Source of all Evil
by Vlad-the-Impish
Summary: X-Over with Charmed. 'The One Who Sees' will soon wish that he were blind.
1. Chapter One

_**Chapter One**_

**The Magic Box,  
Sunnydale,  
California.**

Cole Turner, also known as Belthazor, was bored. His girlfriend, Phoebe Halliwell, and her sisters, Prue and Piper, had decided to have a couple of days away together for some 'sister bonding', leaving him and Piper's fiancé, Leo Wyatt, behind.

Now Cole had nothing against Leo as a person, but the fact was that Leo was a Whitelighter and he was half demon, making them natural enemies. They had both been making an effort to look past what they were to _who_ they were, but their relationship was strained at best.

That was why he had decided to pay a visit to one of the few friends he left had from his old, less reputable days that wouldn't let the Source know where he was the moment they saw him. The fact that she lived on the Hellmouth, the one place the Source was unable to venture onto due to a deal brokered with the First, was a definite bonus, but not the deciding factor.

He had decided that he would drive there, partly for the practise, but mainly due to the fact that excessive use of his powers would let the hunters that were currently after him know where he was, and he didn't want to bring trouble with him to Sunnydale. They had enough as it was without him adding to the pile.

When he had parked his car outside of where she was currently working, a magic shop of all places, he had found himself becoming suddenly nervous, something that he wasn't used to. One of the downsides to his human side gaining strength was that he often thought about the consequences of his actions, something he never had to do when Belthazor was in charge.

He knew that her Sunnydale friends here weren't exactly demon friendly, not that he blamed them for that given where they all lived, and he was hoping that they would allow him time to at least state why he was there before they tried to vanquish him. Not that they could, given that the only known vanquishing spell was in his girlfriend's family's Book of Shadows, but he was pretty certain that their attempts would be less than comfortable.

The ding of the bell as he opened the door to the shop resonated for several moments around the store, although he was surprised to find upon walking inside that it appeared to be empty.

His previous assumption was quickly proven wrong, as a moment later he witnessed a Tek'Mar demon come flying through the double doors at the back of the shop, a petite blonde woman running after it with a sword. The demon spun in the air and landed gracefully, well as gracefully as a 500lb+ demon could land, and charged at the sword-wielding woman, backhanding her into a bookcase. As she landed, two men then came running out from the back of the shop, also wielding swords, and tried to fend the demon off whilst the woman shook the cob webs out so she could return to the fray.

Realising that one or both of the men could get hurt or worse if he didn't do anything, his newly acquired instincts took over and he fired an energy ball at the demon, causing it to explode upon impact. Luckily he had not held back on the power and had incinerated it, as Tek'Mar demons have _extremely_ gooey insides that get everywhere when it is killed the usual way, by decapitation.

Everyone turned to look at him at that point and he could tell that this was not the best introduction he could have made, but as his mother had a habit of saying, when one throws you lemons, you make lemonade. Luckily, he didn't need to worry about how they would receive him for long, as at that point a very familiar voice could be heard.

"Belthazor!" Anya screamed as she came running out from the back and hugged him. He was glad that she was no longer Anyanka, as he would have been crushed in half if she were from the exuberance she'd used in hugging him.

"How are you Anya?" he asked, happy to see that mortal life was treating her well.

"I'm fine now that the demon is no longer destroying my shop," she answered, "costing me valuable money."

"_Our_ shop Anya." Cole looked up at the person who had just spoken, one of the two men that had been trying to kill the demon. "Hello, Rupert Giles," said the distinguished looking man in way of introduction, holding his hand out in greeting.

Cole gently released Anya and grasped the offered hand. "Cole Turner," he replied, "nice to meet you Mr. Giles."

"Please call me Giles, everyone does. I thought that Anya called you Belthazor?" he asked.

Cole knew that they wouldn't have missed that; he had hoped to break them in to his demonic heritage a little later into the conversation, at least until after all the introductions were out of the way, but he was used to his plans never panning out they way he would like and quickly decided on a course of action.

"She did," he replied, "I'm Belthazor half the time."

"What do you mean by _that_?"

Cole looked at the other man in the room, who was currently standing beside the diminutive woman with his arm around her shoulders. He was younger than Giles and looked like he was, or at least used to be, in the military; the way he was standing and the way he was looking him over were dead giveaways, at least to him anyway. He looked to Anya and, after a moment's hesitation, she nodded her head in support.

"I am half demon, the demon half is known as Belthazor," he explained calmly, not letting his nervousness show.

Cole noticed that as soon as he had said the word demon, both the man and the woman tensed up and shifted their weight so that they were in defensive postures without being too conspicuous; well they thought it didn't look conspicuous anyway, but to him their actions stuck out like sore thumbs.

"I'm a friend of Anya's," he continued, "I've known her since she was still Anyanka and thought that I'd pay her a visit and catch up on how she's doing."

"And you just _happen_ to turn up when we're fighting a demon so you can come in and save us?" the younger man asked, his tone indicating that he didn't believe it was a coincidence.

Cole turned to Anya, a smirk on his face. "Are they always this suspicious?" he asked her.

She nodded her head as she answered in the affirmative. "Only in the literal sense."

Giles noticed that the tension in the room had increased significantly in the last few seconds, so he decided to try to diffuse the situation. "Please don't think we don't appreciate the help Mr. Turner…"

"Please, call me Cole," he interrupted, not unkindly. Whenever someone said Mr. Turner, he still had the urge to look for his father even after all this time.

"… Uh, yes, Cole, it's just that it has been our experience to be wary, especially living where we do."

"I understand completely Giles, it's just that it looks like those two would have already jumped me if you weren't in the line of fire," Cole pointed out, looking over at the pair.

Giles turned round and noticed the stances that they were in and sighed, taking his glasses off to clean them, something he always did when trying to buy some time. "Buffy and Riley have a tendency to operate under the policy of 'hit first, ask questions later' in most cases I'm afraid," he explained.

"_HEY_!" they both exclaimed, looking decidedly unhappy about how they had just been described.

Further argument was cut short when the bell to the front door rang once more, indicating another occupant.

"Hey to you too guys, why do you look like you're about to pounce on the new guy?" the new guy asked to nobody in particular.

Once Anya saw who it was, she quickly made her way over to him and gave him a long, passionate kiss.

"Hi honey," she said once separating.

The man looked flushed for a moment, and it took him a moment before he was able to respond. "Hiya Ahn, what's going on?" the man asked.

"Cole here helped Buffy and the others kill a Tek'Mar demon. He then tells them that he's half demon and here to catch up with me and they go into full slay mode."

He nodded at her blunt as always explanation, knowing from experience how both Buffy and Riley could get. He looked at Cole for a moment before walking up to him and offered his hand. "Hi, I'm Xander," he said in way of introduction.

Cole took his hand and shook it warmly. "Cole. So, you're the man that's finally convinced Anya that the male gender is worth the trouble huh?"

Before Xander had a chance to answer, Anya responded for him. "He gives me many orgasms and buys me expensive sparkly things."

Xander blushed, in a very manly way, and shook his head in dismay. "_Anya_!" he exclaimed, embarrassed by his girlfriend's comment. He wasn't as embarrassed as he used to be, having gotten used to her somewhat, but he doubted that he would ever become immune to it.

Cole just laughed at her comment, knowing her for far too long to find what she had said a surprise. "I see that your tact is as strong as ever," he said to Anya.

"I try," she replied simply, taking it a compliment.

Xander decided it was time to change the subject. "So what brings you here to Sunnyhell?" he asked Cole.

"As Anya said," he began, "I just came here to see how she was, seeing as it's been a few years since we last had a chance to talk. Your friends seem to think that I'm here to kill them."

"I doubt that," Xander commented dismissively, "if you were here to do that you would have just shimmered in and caught them by surprise."

Cole looked at Xander in complete surprise. "How did you know I could shimmer?" he asked.

Xander shrugged his shoulders in confusion. "No idea."

Looking that the situation, Xander realised that it would be best if Cole made his first meeting with the Scooby Gang a quick one. "Is it OK to whisk my beautiful girlfriend away early Giles?" he asked the ex-Watcher.

"God yes," Giles responded immediately, knowing Xander could also feel the tension permeating the room and was giving him a way of diffusing it.

As Anya went to collect her purse and coat, Xander turned to Cole. "You coming?" he asked.

Choosing between leaving with Xander and Anya or staying behind with Buffy and Riley was a very difficult thing to do. "Absolutely," he replied immediately, following after them out of the door.


	2. Chapter Two

_**Chapter Two**_

**Xander And Anya's Apartment,  
Sunnydale,  
California.**

Ten minutes later, the trio had arrived at Xander and Anya's apartment and quickly got themselves comfy on the couches in the living room, Xander and Anya cuddled together on one and Cole sitting casually on the other.

Xander has had something he wanted to ask Cole since he the moment they met, but had decided to wait until they were alone to do so, especially given Buffy and Riley's reaction to him.

"So Cole, don't take this the wrong way, but are you evil?" he asked the half demon.

Anya sent him her most vicious death glare upon hearing his question, a glare that Xander ignored totally with remarkable ease in Cole's opinion. Realising that he was ignoring her, in her eyes, justifiable anger, she voiced it.

"Xander, how could you ask one of my oldest friends whether…" Anya petered off when she finally realised that almost all of her oldest friends were evil, making the question a valid one. "… Oh, carry on," she finished with a shrug, wondering about that question herself now.

"I've already told you I'm not here to kill you or your friends," Cole said in an attempt to assuage Xander's fears.

"And I believe you," Xander replied, "otherwise I would already have explained to Willow and Tara how to create the vanquishing potion for you. That doesn't, however, mean that you're not evil."

Both Cole and Anya looked at Xander in surprise, as that was the second time he had shown knowledge of Cole that he had no way of knowing.

"How did you know that Cole could be killed by a vanquishing potion?" Anya asked him, Cole noticing that she sounded uneasy about it.

Xander turned to Anya and shrugged in much the same way he had the last time he had been asked. "No idea," he answered truthfully. He turned back to Cole, his posture intimidating and his voice threatening. "I've noticed you haven't answered my question," he pointed out, steering them all back to the original topic of conversation.

"No I'm not evil, anymore anyway, but I'm not whiter than white either," he answered, deciding to go with the same blunt honesty that Xander had been using with him. "I have no problem with killing demons, or humans for that matter, if they endangered the life of my girlfriend Phoebe or her family."

Xander nodded his head in understanding at that, especially as he felt the same way about Anya and the others. "I have no problems with that, I'm the same in that respect," he said in his usual happy tone.

"So you believe me?" Cole asked, surprised at the sudden change in tone.

Xander sent him a lop-sided smile. "I already knew you weren't evil, I just needed for you to say it out loud, for my own peace of mind you understand."

Once again Cole looked at him in surprise. "Are you _sure_ you're only human?" he asked.

Xander snorted in laughter, but Cole can sense a touch of bitterness in it. "Believe me, I'm as human as you get, if you discount the fact that I've been possessed twice and have been fighting vampires and other demons for five years. Why do you ask?" he asked intrigued.

"It's just that when I look at you I get the strangest feeling…"

Before he had a chance to finish, Anya suddenly stood up, catching the attention of both men. "Anyone for coffee?" she asked loudly.

Xander gestured that Anya sit back down. "I'll get it Ahn, your usual cream and two sugars?" he asked his girlfriend.

"Yes please," she responded with a smile.

"Cole?" he said in way of a question.

"Black, no sugar if that's alright."

"Coming right up," he stated cheerfully before walks off to the kitchen.

Once he was out of sight, Cole turned his attention to Anya. "What's going on Anya?" he asked with a commanding tone.

Anya looked at him with her most innocent expression, which considering who was doing it wasn't all that innocent. "I have no idea what you mean."

Cole narrowed his eyes and leant forward, no longer willing to play her game. "That won't work with me, I've known you too long. You know who he is don't you?" he asked her, having finally realised it himself and knowing there was no need to explain to her what he meant.

A sudden look of panic appeared on her face, knowing what he was currently thinking. "You can't say anything!" she shouted in a panicked voice.

He was surprised that Xander hadn't come in due to her outburst; she sure wasn't being the quietest person on the planet at the moment. He shook his head in disagreement. "You know I have to; the Source is gunning for Phoebe and the others, not to mention he's sending every hunter dumb enough or strong enough after me as well. He's our best chance at happiness."

"You have no idea what this will do to him!" she hissed. She was now almost in tears, but he couldn't work out whom she's more worried about.

"Xander or the Source?" he asked. At her look he realised something, something he should have figured out from the beginning. "You still love him don't you?"

Before she had a chance to answer, Xander came back into the living room with their drinks.

"Here's your coffee…" Xander could feel the tension in the room, and wondered what had caused it. "Did I miss something?" he asked the two of them.

Cole went to tell him, but Anya cut him off before he had a chance. "No, we were just reminiscing and some of the things we did aren't quite as nice to remember, now that we actually care about what we did."

Xander smiled comfortingly at them both, having had conversations like that with Anya before. "Yeah, I remember Ahn telling me about some of the more creative things she did to men during our first date."

Cole gave him an incredulous look, suddenly forgetting his previous conversation. "And you went on a _second_?" he asked in amazement.

"Well, after we killed the mayor and blew up the High School…" before Xander could go any further, Cole put his hand up to stop him.

"Wait, wait, why did you kill the mayor?" he asked.

Xander frowned in confusion for a moment, "you don't want to know about the High School?" he asked.

"It was High School," Cole responded simply.

"Ah, got you. Well the mayor ascended into a true demon during our graduation ceremony and was going to eat everybody in Sunnydale. We tricked him into going into the High School and blew it up with him in it," Xander explained, a small smile making its way pn his face as he spoke of blowing up the school.

Cole winced at that, imagining how that must have hurt. "Sounds a bit extreme," he commented, thinking of several different ways that could have been handled without the need for major property damage.

"Could you think of any other way a group of High School seniors and a librarian could kill something the size of a _dinosaur_ with only a few days preparation?" Xander asked him in reply, his tone making it clear that he didn't think there was one.

Cole thought for a couple of moments but came up with nothing. "You do have a point there. You still consider yourself normal after everything you've done?"

"All of my friends seem to think so," he replied, again with a touch of bitterness entering his voice. "I mean there's a Slayer, a Watcher, two witches, a military trained demon hunter and last, but certainly not least, a former vengeance demon. I'm just a guy who works construction that occasionally helps out, mainly by keeping the supply of coffee and donuts coming."

Cole shook his head in disbelief in how little self-esteem the young man before him had. "You've been fighting things that are faster and stronger than you for five years, you are more than just a construction worker."

"You forgot Spike," Anya said unexpectedly, cutting into the conversation.

Xander turned to Anya in confusion. "What?" he asked.

"You forgot to mention Spike," she reiterated.

It took Xander a moment to work out what she had meant before shaking his head. "No I didn't," he responded. "I said _friends_ Ahn, I hate to even think of DeadBoy Jr. as an _ally_."

Cole once again felt lost in the conversation, realising that it probably wouldn't be the last time it happened either. "I feel like I'm doing this a lot, but Deadboy Jr.?" he asked.

"Spike, or as you may know him William the Bloody," Xander began, "is a vampire who had a behaviour modification chip stuck in his head by a covert military project that makes him unable to hurt humans. You know, when I say it like that, it sounds like a plot from one of those trashy b-movies they show when there's nothing else to put on. Anyway, don't ask me how they made it, how they implanted it, or how they made it work with dead brain tissue, all I know is that they did and it works. He can, however, still hurt demons, so he helps out from time to time in exchange for money and/or blood."

Cole could almost feel the disdain Xander held for the vampire. "I take it you don't trust him?" he asked, knowing the answer already from the man's body language alone.

"Not as far as I can spit after going without water for three days. I trust his Grandsire more than him and that is saying something."

Once again Cole looked at him in surprise, wondering just how someone who could talk about demons so casually could consider himself normal. "You know _Angelus_?" he asked, shock colouring his voice.

Cole had never met him, having travelled in different circles, but almost everyone knew of the exploits of Angelus and his cohorts.

Xander nodded his head but his face darkened slightly. "Unfortunately," he replied, "but he goes by Angel now. He fed on the wrong girl about a century ago and got cursed by gypsies with his soul. If he has a moment of 'perfect happiness' the soul goes bye-bye and we're left to deal with the Scourge of Europe. We can barely stand to be in the same room as each other, the reasons being many and varied, but I still trust him more than the fangless wonder. Anyway enough about me, tell me a little about yourself."

Cole wasn't sure that telling Xander about his past would endear himself to the man so he tried to put him off. "I'm not sure you'd like it."

"Do I need to list the people I know again? I am more than aware that being an agent of the Source means more than organising keggers and darning socks."

"How did you know I worked for the Source, or that the Source even _exists_?"

Once again Xander simply shrugged his shoulders, having no idea but knowing it to be true nonetheless. "No idea."

Cole decided that he needed to tell Xander what he knew, at least what he thought he knew anyway. "I think I do."

Before he could continue, Anya suddenly jumped up. "Belthazor no!" she shouted at him, anger and panic both obvious in her voice.

Xander looked between the two in confusion and a little worry. "What's going on here?"

Anya spoke before Cole had a chance. "Nothing Xander, Cole needs to be leaving, _now_."

Cole decided that he needed to make a stand; it was too important to back down now, especially if Xander truly was whom he thought. "He has a right to know Anya."

She looked at him, pleading with her eyes. "Leave it alone Cole, _please._"

Cole shook his head but before either one could say any more, Xander stood up and turned Anya to face him.

"Ahn, what is going on?" he asked with an uncertain tone of voice.

"Xander do you love me?" she asked him, hoping to get out of explaining what was going on.

He smiled lovingly at her and caressed her cheek with his thumb. "You know I do," he said warmly.

She leant into Xander's touch before composing herself and speaking again. "Then leave this alone."

"I don't even know what you're on about," he pointed out, his concern over what was going on increasing exponentially with every passing moment.

She took his hand in her own and pulled it away from her face, her desperation causing her to get angry. "It doesn't matter, leave it alone."

Cole got up and glared at Anya. "This is more important than your selfish desires Anya."

"I said leave it alone Cole now go before I do something you'll regret," she threatened, sending him a look right out of her demonic days.

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to convince Anya, he turned his attention to Xander and pled his case. "I know you have no reason to trust me Xander, but the lives of my girlfriend and her family are at stake, as well as countless others. I need to explain to you what I believe."

Seeing Xander wavering, Anya decided to go for broke, knowing just how precarious her position was, but unable to see any other way out of her current situation. "Xander I'm ordering you to let this drop," she said forcefully, knowing the moment the words left her mouth that she had just put the death nail into their relationship.

Xander snapped his head round to look at her, his eyes flashed with barely repressed anger. "You're _ordering_ me? I don't know if you're aware of this, but you are _not_ the boss of me!" he growled.

Anya knew that she was fighting a losing battle, but she couldn't stop herself. Returning his glare, she started poking him in the chest with every word that she spoke. "I'm your girlfriend and if you want me to stay that way you'll do as I say!"

Xander took a couple of steps back from her, getting away from the more annoying than hurting jabs, his glare still in full force and his temper at breaking point. "I don't respond well to threats Anya, in fact I have a tendency to do the exact opposite of what people want just for the sheer hell of it."

Anya just looked at him for a couple of moments before grabbing her purse and running out of the apartment in tears, not knowing what to do anymore.

Xander took a couple of calming breaths before sitting back down and returning his gaze to Cole. "You better speak fast Cole, my patience has suddenly got _very_ short," he bit out.

Cole actually took a step back due to the intensity of Xander's gaze, falling back onto the couch. He had never seen such a determined look in a person's eyes before, and was suddenly glad that he hadn't. He started to understand just how Xander had lived as long as he had, as he doubted there were very many demons that would want to have that look trained on them. To say that he didn't hesitate in beginning his explanation would be an understatement.

"There is a legend of a being, known only as 'The One Who Sees'," Cole began "that will instinctively know a demons powers and weaknesses and who will be immune to those powers and magic. This being will fight the Source and defeat him completely."

"Completely?" Xander asked, his ire dimming, but only slightly, as his curiosity grew.

"When the Source dies any other way, his powers and title goes to his appointed successor. It is said that 'The One Who Sees' not only destroys the Source but the power as well. No more power, no more Source." Cole explained.

Xander just stared at him for a moment before a mirthless laugh escaped his lips, indicating just what he thought about what Cole was suggesting. "And what, you think that I'm 'The One Who sees'?" he asked sceptically.

Cole simply nodded his head in agreement.

"I don't think so," Xander stated with certainty. "For a start, I've no idea what half the demons we have faced over the years can do, or how to kill them, and the ones that I do know about comes from hours upon hours of exhaustive research. I've also been affected by magic on more than one occasion, a love spell being a notable example."

"That's because you've been dealing with agents of the First," Cole said in way of explanation.

Xander started shaking his head in confusion and frustration. "Now you've completely lost me."

"It's a little difficult to explain but I'll try," Cole replied, feeling happy that Xander hadn't just dismissed him and was willing to hear his case. "At the ends of the spectrum of good and evil you have Lucifer and the Creator. They basically keep out of things unless absolutely necessary, which believe you me is a very good thing for everyone. The day-to-day things are left to, basically, middle management. On the side of good you have the Powers That Be and the Elders. On the other side you have the First and the Source. There are others as well but these are the main players. With me so far?" he asked, knowing that he had given Xander a lot to take in.

"Lucifer, Creator, Powers, Elders, Source, First."

"Right," Cole replied with a slight smile at his paraphrasing. "To help limit confusion, the PTB deal with the First and the Elders deal with the Source to ensure that little to no conflicts of interest occurs."

"Makes sense," Xander noted, his military knowledge seeing the logic behind that, "but what does that have to do with me?" he asked.

"If I'm right and you are 'The One Who Sees' the legend speaks about," Cole replied, "you're a major player for the Elders, but nothing more than a small blip on the radar for the PTB. That's why you've been affected by magic and been in the dark about what you're facing; they have nothing to do with the fight you're meant to be a part of. I'm guessing that although you were affected, it didn't work as planned?"

"Well the love spell backfired in a big way and the possessions have had longer lasting effects on me than the others, which is why I still have the skills of SoldierBoy."

"You said you were possessed twice?" Cole asked.

"Yeah," Xander responded, "by a hyena spirit, I was the alpha of the pack. I've noticed that since then I've been faster and stronger than I should be and I heal faster as well," he explained, surprising himself by how open he was being to this practical stranger.

"It would also explain why you were the alpha in the pack," Cole mused, remembering something he had learnt whilst in Africa assassinating a tribal shaman.

"Huh?" Xander asked intelligently.

"The alpha of a hyena pack is usually female" Cole explained, "and your status is probably what had the alpha inhabit you in the first place."

Xander groaned and put his head in his hands. "_Great_, further proof that I'm just 'one of the girls'."

"What?" Cole asked.

Xander dismissed the question with a wave of his hand, not needing to go down that particular memory lane right now. "Nothing. If what you're saying is right, why's Anya so dead set against you telling me, to the point that she's actually broken up with me?" he asked. Xander then suddenly sat up straight with a look of disbelief plastered on his face. "Could you also explain to me why I didn't run after her?"

"As far as your second question goes, I'm guessing it was a mixture of shock, anger and the need to know what made her have such a strong response. As for the first, I'm not sure that I should…"

Xander cut him off. "I think I have a right to know, don't you?"

After a momentary internal debate, Cole nodded his assent. "OK. At one point in time, Anyanka and the Source were in a relationship."

Xander looked confused by that, "I always thought that she hated all men, she was the Patron Saint of Scorned Women after all."

"She hated all _human_ men, the Source is definitely _not_ human. The relationship ended when it began to interfere with their duties."

Xander snorted in derision, "Yeah, I can see how a relationship would put a hamper on mayhem and destruction."

"She was an Agent of the First, there were those that were uneasy about them being together."

Xander was silent for a few moments, allowing that information to sink in, before speaking once more. "Was she in love with him?" he asked, not sure whether he wanted to know the answer.

"Yes, she was in love with him."

Xander could hear something in Cole's voice that he didn't like in the slightest. "You think that she still is, don't you?" he asked.

"I honestly don't know," Cole responded, the answer sounding hollow to his own ears.

Xander arched an eyebrow at that, knowing a lie when he heard it. "You must be crap at poker because you can't lie to save your life."

"Believe me I can, you can simply tell whether I'm lying or not, it's another ability of 'The One Who Sees'."

"Whatever," he said dismissively. "Either way, I doubt she likes the fact that her latest boyfriend seems to be destined to kill her last boyfriend." Realisation suddenly hit him and his features darkened. "She knew didn't she, she knew that I was the one in the legend?"

"I'm afraid so," Cole answered regrettably, knowing how the news would affect his new friend, "as soon as I started to talk to her about it she began to panic."

Suddenly feeling like his entire relationship with Anya had been a lie, Xander leant back into the couch and stared blankly at the ceiling.

After several minutes passed, Cole begins to get worried for his new friend. "Xander?" he said gently.

He didn't get a response straight away, in fact it took several seconds before Xander finally turned his attention back to Cole.

"What now?" Xander asked.

Cole knew that he wasn't talking about Anya. "I know that I'm right about who you are, but there is someone else who could give final confirmation."

"Well _get_ them here," Xander demanded.

"I can't," he replied, "they're not allowed near the Hellmouth."

"Ah, you mean a Whitelighter."

"How did you…" Cole stopped himself from asking, knowing what the answer would be. "Never mind, yes it is a Whitelighter. It does mean coming to San Francisco with me."

Xander shook his head. "Can't do that right now, you guys aren't the only ones fighting against the forces of darkness you know. Also the mother of one of my friends is ill and I want to be here to help."

"I know that you want to help, but you shouldn't even be in their war…" before Cole could utter another word, Xander was up out of his chair and grabbed him by the collar, bringing Cole to within inches of his face.

"It's my war as well and I won't be dictated to by _anyone_, especially not demons on the road to redemption." Xander pushed Cole back down onto the couch and began to pace. "I need to talk to Buffy and the others and then I'll consider going with you."

Realising that any further disagreement would be detrimental to his health, as while Xander may not be able to actually vanquish him yet, he knew that his attempts would cause him no small amount of pain, Cole simply nodded in agreement. "Whatever you say, but I suggest that you talk to them sooner rather than later."

Xander walked to the door of the apartment, turning his head to look at the other occupant as he opened it. "How about now?"


	3. Chapter Three

_**Chapter Three**_

**The Magic Box,  
Sunnydale,  
California,  
One Hour Later.**

Everybody was sitting round the table at the Magic Box, letting everything that Xander and Cole had just told them sink in. Everybody looked in deep thought, except for Spike, who just looked bored. Eventually Buffy spoke up, deciding to be the voice of the group.

"Have you lost your _mind!_" she shouted, her opinion on the matter clear to everyone in the room.

Xander was expecting this type of response from Buffy; she was the biggest believer that he was just the normal one and would instantly see what she had been told as a lie. "No, I have several psych reports to prove my case as well," he responded, knowing what was going to happen next.

Buffy took a look at Willow, who after a moment got the hint and got on the bandwagon too.

"You can't really believe what this guy is saying. You're not a legendary fighter, you're _Xander_!" she said as though that answered everything.

Even though he was expecting it, having your oldest and closest friend show such a low opinion of him hurt more than he thought it would. What hurt more was that neither of his friends knew just how much those comments affected him.

"Thank you Willow for that _glowing_ character reference, remind me to put it on my résumé."

Sensing that Xander's feeling had been hurt, Spike decided to rub salt in the wound by adding his two cents, always happy to put the young man down especially considering he was unable to kill him like he so desperately wanted.

"You're nothing but a glorified carpenter Droopy, you couldn't fight your way out of a wet paper bag with a chainsaw," he taunted, seeing that Xander was close to losing it completely. He knew that if he got him to lash out, the others would never listen to what he had to say and ensured that an argument would occur.

Cole could sense that Xander was going to erupt, so he put a hand on his shoulder, hoping that his presence might help to calm him down, which luckily for him worked, a little bit at least.

Xander began to rub his chin in mock thoughtfulness. "I'm sure that there has been another legendary figure that was also seen as a simple carpenter, I just can't seem to place the name…" he deliberately trailed off, knowing that he wasn't helping his case but finding it hard to care at that moment.

Buffy looked at him incredulously. "Now you've got a God complex?" she asked.

Xander just sighed, knowing that something major had to happen for him to be believed. "No, I'm just saying that it isn't out of the realms of possibility that Cole here is telling the truth."

Giles by now had also noticed the tension building up in the room, so he decided to try and calm down the situation. While his thoughts on the subject weren't as cut and dried as Buffy or Willow, he was having a hard time picturing Xander as some sort of saviour.

"We're not saying that we don't think you could be the one Cole was telling you about Xander, it's just that going on Cole's word alone is ill advised."

"I _know_ that Giles," Xander responded, "which is why I'm here talking to you instead of driving to San Francisco with Cole right now. Anyway it's not just Cole, Anya also thought the same thing and completely flipped out when Cole started to tell me."

"Where is she anyway?" Riley asked, strangely silent before now.

"When Cole started to tell me about the legend, Anya tried to forbid me from talking to him about it, when I didn't do as she said she ran off."

"So we only have your word for it that she knew," Buffy stated, not noticing the way Xander was looking at her.

"So you've gone from not believing what Cole told me to thinking I'm _lying_ to you?" he asked almost with a growl.

"Wouldn't be the first time, would it?" she said, her own anger rising.

Realising that things were going to get out of control fast, Buffy's ill thought comment almost causing Xander to lose it completely, Giles tried to find some middle ground.

"We aren't suggesting that you're lying to us," he said with a pointed look to Buffy, who for once looked sheepish that she brought up a long resolved topic, "not in the least. I just think that we need some more conclusive proof before you leave with someone you only met a couple of hours ago."

Xander could tell that, despite the fact that was an adult and they had no legal say whatsoever in the matter, they wouldn't let him go until they were convinced. While normally that sort of protectiveness was comforting, in a weird sort of way, this time it only made him angrier that he was being treated like a child or a piece of property instead of a friend.

Realising that only something drastic was going to work, he came up with a plan that would either work perfectly or bomb drastically. The way he was feeling at that moment, he didn't really care which way it went.

"Fine I'll give you proof. Cole, follow me please," he said as he started walking to the back of the shop, Cole following a step behind.

He continued to the back door and walked through it and into the alley behind the shop. As he turned round he noticed that everyone has followed him, saving the trouble of calling them all over.

He turned to Cole. "Fire an energy ball at the dumpster, full power if you please."

"Why?" he asked, not sure how that was going to convince his friends that he was telling the truth.

"Trust me."

Cole nodded his head and after forming a ball at maximum power, he fired it at the dumpster. The dumpster disintegrated on contact, just as Cole had expected, and turned to face Xander once more hoping he would get an explanation as to why he had done it.

"Everybody agree that those balls are on the dangerous side?" he asked. He saw everyone eventually nod in agreement and then went on. "Right. Cole, fire one at me, same power."

"_NO_!" Willow screamed.

"Are you _insane_!" Buffy shouted in shock.

"Asked and answered Buff," Xander replied in a tired tone. "We can argue until we're all blue in the face but without physical proof, you're not going to believe him or trust me. The fact that after five years you still don't trust my judgement, or allow me to make my own mistakes, is more than a little hurtful by the way. If I'm wrong I die and you won't have to worry about the Zeppo getting in the way anymore, but if I'm right and it doesn't affect me, I'm going to San Francisco and talk to Leo."

Cole turned sharply to look at Xander. "I never said…" he stopped and shook his head slowly. "I'm not going to get used to this any time soon."

"And I'm completely comfortable with the whole situation" Xander replied sarcastically. "Hurry up and fire the ball at me before I change my mind."

Cole fired the ball immediately, ensuring that no one had a chance to try and stop him, and as it was about to make contact with Xander's body, it dissipated harmlessly. Xander released the breath he didn't know he was holding, a move repeated by everyone else except Spike, who just looked annoyed Xander was still alive.

"That enough proof for you Giles?" he asked, unable to keep some of the smugness he felt out of his voice.

"Uh, yes, quite enough thank you Xander," Giles managed to say, his shock at the spectacle he just witnessed obvious to all.

"Good. It looks like I'm off to San Francisco," he said whilst making his way back into the shop.

He managed to go all of a few paces before a small hand landed on his shoulder and spun him round.

"I'm going with you," Buffy said in a tone that would brook no refusal.

That was something Xander hadn't been expecting, he half thought that she would still argue the point with him. "Huh?" he asked.

Buffy went to say something, but then stopped and then started again. "You may have proved that you're what he says you are, but that doesn't mean that he's trustworthy. He may just want to separate you from the rest of us so he can kill you."

Xander looked down at his chest and then raised an eyebrow at her. "I don't know if you've just noticed, but he can't hurt me," he said.

"Not with his powers no, that doesn't mean he can't shoot you, or stab you, or bludgeon you to death with a baseball bat, or…"

Xander cut her off before she got into a rhythm and went on for hours. "I get the point Buff and thank you so much for the wonderful visuals. I get that Cole could be lying, but I'm guessing that you may well be needed here, what with your mom in hospital and having to look after Dawn."

Buffy waved those reasons off with a gesture. "Giles and the others can look after Dawn and mom won't be discharged for a couple of days." Buffy turned her attention to Cole. "It won't take that long to sort things out will it?" she asked.

Cole shook his head, "No, Leo should be able to corroborate it almost instantly."

"In that case we won't be there for more than a couple of days anyway. I need a break from everything; it's been a while since I've had a holiday. The bonus is that get to make sure that my Xander-shaped friend stays Xander-shaped."

"If you're sure."

She put a hand on his other shoulder. "There is no way you are leaving this town without me," she stated with authority.

Xander could tell the real reason why she was doing this; she felt bad that they hadn't trusted him or believed that he had been telling the truth and wanted to make up for it. When he thought about it he couldn't help but love the idea of spending some quality time with her. He won't let her know how much though.

"Fine. I need to arrange for a couple of days off and pack some clothes. I'll meet you back here in a couple of hours?" he asked/stated.

She smiled triumphantly at getting her way and nodded. "Two hours it is. If you leave without me I will follow you and kick your ass all the way back here, get it?"

"Got it."

"Good."

Buffy went to walk back into the training room to work off a little of the excess anger she had, but was stopped by Riley, who grabbed her by the arm, something that even the most stupid vampire would never do.

"Buffy, aren't we even going to _discuss_ this?" he asked in a tone tinged with anger and possessiveness.

She ripped her arm away from his grip and glared at him. "Discuss what? Xander needs to find out more about this legend and I don't trust this guy enough for Xander to go alone."

Riley took a small step back from Buffy, giving him room to manoeuvre before responding. "Why does it have to be you?" he asked, his tone indicating his displeasure at the notion.

Buffy looked at him as though he were stupid, something that had never been disproved to anyone's satisfaction. "Whom else would you suggest?" she asked.

"Well…" he began but is cut off by his better half.

"Giles has the shop and Dawn to look after, Willow and Tara need time to cast their spells and aren't fighters, Spike would let Cole kill Xander…"

"Too bloody right I would," Spike said with a smile on his face.

"… And that leaves either you or me and I pick me," she finished off, completely ignoring Spike's interruption.

Riley looked over at Xander, looking him up and down a couple of time as though he were looking at something he'd stepped in, before returning his gaze to Buffy. "I don't like the thought of you and him alone together in another city."

Xander went to say something but was cut to the chase by Buffy. "You don't trust me?" she asked with an edge to her voice that no one could miss.

Riley shook his head and pointed a finger at Xander. "I don't trust _him_, he's already cheated on one girlfriend, why not another."

Buffy was stunned into silence, giving Xander the chance to respond. "That's awful nice of you to say Riley, it's the sort of thing that stays in someone's memory for a long time. Although I can now tell the feeling is anything but mutual, I like you Riley and wouldn't do that to you. I haven't thought of Buffy like that for quite a while and Buffy has never seen me as anything other than a friend. Even in the unlikely event I lost all semblance of reason and did make a pass at Buffy, she would rip my arms and legs off and throw me in the ocean. While I've been told that I have a well-developed tongue, I doubt I could make my way back to shore." Xander turned to Buffy. "Don't worry about coming with me Buff, I'll be fine by myself."

"I said that I was coming and that hasn't changed." She walked up to Riley and was using her most formidable glare whilst poking him in the chest, which caused him to wince each time she did so, as she wasn't holding back on the Slayer strength. "I'm your girlfriend, not your possession. I think you need to spend the next day or so thinking about whether you want us to stay together as I _know_ I will be. You better hope I've calmed down before I come back otherwise you won't live long enough to tell me your decision." She walked back to Xander and gave him an apologetic smile. "I'll go collect Dawn from Catherine's house then get packing, I'll see you here in a couple of hours, alright?"

"Fine by me," Xander agreed.

Buffy nodded once and then left to collect Dawn whilst Xander and Cole went back to Cole's car, leaving a stunned Riley, a laughing Spike and a dumbstruck Giles, Willow and Tara.


	4. Chapter Four

_**Chapter Four**_

******Cole's Car,  
En Route To San Francisco,  
California,  
The Following Morning**.

Cole, Buffy and Xander had been driving now for several hours and had finally got to the city limits of San Francisco. They couldn't actually leave until this morning; convincing Dawn that she couldn't come along with them had taken longer than Buffy expected, ending with Dawn barricading herself in her room for several hours. By the time they had gotten her calmed down, mainly through Xander's influence over the young teen, they realised that it would be useless to leave so late and had decided to wait for sunrise.

They had taken Cole out for a patrol that night, where he had fun blowing up vampires and other demons, not having much excuse to kill things recently, and found it very therapeutic in a way that only people in his line of work could understand.

He thought it felt good to be around people who weren't as reserved in going straight for the kill as Phoebe and the others, even if he could understand their reticence, and took full advantage of it, ensuring that they would probably have several quiet nights.

There hadn't been much in the way of conversation during the journey, and when there was it had been mainly between Buffy and Xander. Cole didn't really mind, he wasn't exactly known as a social animal, but he could tell that the other two weren't used to such long bouts of silence.

Realising they hadn't worked out accommodation, he decided to speak up.

"Have you thought about where you're going to be staying?" he asked the pair. "You can both stay with me, I have a spare room and a fold down couch available."

He had surprised himself with his offer, having been so used to his solitary existence, apart from Phoebe of course. While he still had trackers after him, he could risk having company for a couple of nights before the risk got too great, and he in some way felt responsible for the way Xander had found out about his legacy.

Xander and Buffy exchanged looks before Xander answered. "Thanks for the offer but I think we'll just stay at a motel," he replied apologetically.

Cole took a quick glance at Xander, smirking slightly. "Still don't trust me?" he asked.

"I do, but I can tell by the death glares Buffy keeps throwing your way that she doesn't," Xander responded.

Cole looked in the rear-view mirror and noticed that, once again, Buffy was trying to kill him with her non-existent heat vision. She had been doing that on and off for the entire trip, along with saying the words…

"He could have _killed_ you."

Both Cole and Xander sighed in frustration, as it seemed that once she had a thought in her head, nothing less than a nuclear air strike would dislodge it.

"We've been over this three times already," Xander began, talking in a tone that expressed how tired he was of going over it again and again. "I _asked_ him to fire the ball at me and _nothing_ happened."

Buffy crossed her arms across her chest and pouted, which to Xander saw as nothing short of adorable. "If the roles were reversed you'd be the same," she retorted.

She was still pouting at him and he was having trouble keeping a straight face. "That's besides the point."

"That's _exactly_ the point and you know it."

Cole had been listening to the same conversation played out several times over the journey and couldn't help but laugh. If he didn't any know better he would have sworn that they were married.

"Are you two always like this?" he asked them.

Buffy and Xander both turned to look at him and answered at the same time. "Pretty much."

They looked at each other and smiled, silently agreeing to disagree at last. Buffy decided to change the subject.

"What are you going to do about Anya Xand?" she asked.

Xander's smile wavered slightly and got mixed in with a look of confusion. "I have no idea," he replied. He sighed again and shook his head slightly. "She knew about this and kept it from me, just to keep her old boyfriend safe. It doesn't say much for our relationship now, does it?"

"There isn't a lot I can say about that."

He could tell that she wanted to say more but was trying hard not to. "I know that you and the others don't like Anya."

She had tried to hide the smile that appeared on her face, and failed miserably going by the knowing look that Xander was giving her. "Only in the literal sense. We just don't think that she's right for you. I said this before when you were with Cordelia, but you deserve someone better."

Xander got a far away look in his eyes, remembering that conversation and the feelings it had evoked within him. "And as I said before the only other person in my sights is unavailable." Suddenly uncomfortable with the conversation, he decided to turn the tables on her. "What are you going to do about Riley?"

Now it was Buffy's turn to look a little sad and confused. "I don't know either. I've always noticed how on guard he is when I'm around other guys, even with Giles at times, but he's never come right out and said anything before. I never thought that he was so insecure about our relationship, especially not to the extent where he accuses my friends of making a play for me."

Xander decided to ignore the last part, for although he would never do it, he couldn't say it had never crossed his mind. "I was telling the truth when I said I liked him," he replied, "he may not be the most interesting person on the planet but he is loyal and faithful."

Buffy laughed involuntarily at Xander's description. "You make him sound like a dog, and I noticed the past tense on liking him," she said in-between laughs.

"Be glad he isn't a dog, they like to piss on their territory and I don't think you'd enjoy that experience," he said, trying not to laugh as Buffy's face screwed up in disgust as the mental image that evoked played out in her mind.

"If he tried I'd have him put down," she said as she slapped him on the shoulder for the SVP he inserted into her head.

"I'm sure you would," he said laughing. "And what you said before, yeah I did like him, but I'm guessing I didn't really know the real him, nor him me it seems."

"It looks like I didn't either," she said in a whisper that he could barely hear.

He could see the sad look on Buffy's face and tried to make her feel better. "He can't help being jealous, you are an amazingly beautiful woman who turns heads wherever you go. Also, although I don't like to admit it, he is right about me cheating on my previous girlfriend."

She blushed slightly at his compliment, as much to do with the sincerity in his voice as the words themselves. Remembering the last part, she felt she had to point something out. "Yeah, but you were right that you learn from your mistakes, not to mention the fact that you weren't the only one cheating, Willow was as much to blame as you," she pointed out.

Xander suddenly had to look away, his emotions getting the better of him. Having someone say that it wasn't his entire fault was something that he had been wanting from the moment they were caught.

Those months directly after they had been found kissing by Cordelia and Oz, everyone had treated Xander like a leper, while Willow had received no condemnation for her own part in what had happened. It had felt to Xander like everyone assumed that he had somehow forced Willow into that situation, and it had taken him a long time to get over the hurt, which hadn't been helped by the way Oz had quickly forgiven Willow while Cordelia had made his life a misery by airing all of his family's dirty laundry to everyone.

It took several moments before Xander risked speaking, hoping that his voice would remain calm.

"I think that's the first time anyone has said that," he told her softly, cursing himself slightly for sounding so pathetic.

Before Buffy could respond, Cole stopped the car indicated that they had arrived at their destination.

**Magic Box,  
Sunnydale,  
California,  
Same Time.**

"When do you think they'll be back?"

Giles looked at Willow and sighed; she had been asking that question almost from the moment Buffy and Xander left with Cole, and the Ripper part of his mind was currently explaining to him just how hard he would need to squeeze her neck to make her eyes pop out.

He took a moment to collect his thoughts, using his patented 'pinch the nose and clean the glasses' move that had served him so well in the past, before responding.

"I suppose that depends on what happens, if this Leo person does provide corroborating evidence that Xander is indeed this fighter of legend, I guess that Xander at least will stay for at least a week or two, probably longer."

Willow just looked at him with disbelief clearly visible in her eyes. "Giles, you can't really believe this stuff about Xander being the one man that can destroy someone that is as powerful as the First? I mean come on, this is _Xander_ we're talking about."

"I admit that I have my misgivings over the whole affair Willow, but I find your lack of faith in Xander's abilities disturbing."

Willow looked slightly guilty about what she just said and decided to stay silent. Spike however had no problem with speaking his mind.

"Come on Watcher, the whelp can't beat up eggs, he runs at the first sign of danger and if his belly were any more yellow it would glow in the dark."

Giles glared at him, once again wondering why they didn't just dust him like they should have done the moment he reared his bleach blonde head last year. "Shut up Spike, nobody asked for you opinion and the day I do will be the day I lose my final marble."

Spike grinned at him but, showing a level of intelligence that was normally alien to him, decided to remain silent. This was of course the point where Riley showed his complete lack of intelligence.

"I hate to admit this but I agree with Spike, Harris is nothing but a liability to the group. The amount of times we've had to risk our lives to save his ass is ludicrous," he said with a slight smirk.

Spike smiled at the fact that Riley actually agreed with him, something he thought would never happen. Everybody else glared at Riley, even Tara, who normally tried to keep to the middle ground in a conversation. Another surprising thing was that although she was glaring at him, Willow was also nodding slightly.

"I don't think he is a liability Riley," the redhead told him, turning her glare up a notch before retuning to normal, "but I do think that he will be safer if he doesn't go on patrol with the rest of us," she said, her picture of Xander still the one of five years ago.

"I-I disagree," Tara said, the first time she has said anything on the subject.

Willow whipped her head round to Tara, her eyes almost bursting from her sockets in surprise, not only because Tara was disagreeing with her, but also due to the almost anger that could be heard in the mousy blonde witch's voice.

"Tara?" she said tentatively, unsure what to make of her girlfriend's uncharacteristic behaviour.

"Xander has b-been fighting for five years Willow and he is still alive," Tara began quietly, "something that 90 of slayers in _history_ couldn't claim, Buffy included. I have _never_ seen him run from a fight, and the only times he's ended up hurt is when he's p-put himself in the line of fire to save one of us, apart from Spike. I'm not sure whether he is the person Cole thinks he is b-but he is definitely _not_ a liability."

Tara was almost shouting at the end, causing everyone to look at her with a mixture of surprise and fear, as an angry Tara was pretty frightening.

Internally Giles was doing back-flips, not only because Tara had finally come out of her shell and voiced her opinion, but that she agreed with him as well. He suddenly felt sad that he had never stuck up for Xander the way Tara just had; while his main priority has been and always will be Buffy, he should let Xander know how much he contributed to the group.

"I agree with Tara, whether Xander is 'The One Who Sees' or not, he is a valued member of the group and you need to work out your own problems before trying to point out Xander's."

******Cole's Car,  
San Francisco,  
California**.

"We're here, I just hope that Leo is," Cole said, knowing that if he weren't Buffy might start believing all this was a trick.

Buffy and Xander looked at each other, realising that they'd just had a personal conversation in front of someone who was practically a stranger to them. Finally they allowed what he had said to sink in and realised that Cole had already gotten out of the car.

They both do the same and once they'd caught up, Xander looked at him.

"Can't you call him if he's not here?" he asked.

Cole shook his head, "he only comes to one of his charges and demons don't count."

Xander was tempted to hit him upside the head but thought better of it, proving he did think before he acted on occasion.

"I meant on the phone, he has a cell phone right?" he asked sarcastically.

Cole looked at him for a moment before laughing. "Yeah, he does actually, although I've never seen him use it. Honestly I didn't think of it; I've got used to one of the girls just calling for him and him showing up a couple seconds later."

He indicated for them to follow him towards the house, which they do. They reach the front door of the house a few seconds later and Cole opened it using the key Phoebe gave him.

"Hey Leo, you here?" he shouted once inside. After a couple of seconds they heard a voice coming from the back of the house.

"I'm in the kitchen Cole!"

Cole started walking so Xander and Buffy followed right after, Buffy remembering to close the door behind them. Once they reached the kitchen, Leo turned round and almost jumped out of his skin, pointing at Xander with wide eyes.

"You're 'The One Who Sees'!" he exclaimed.

As soon as he had said that, his eyes rolled up inside his head as he fell to the floor in a dead faint, Buffy rushing to help him up.

As she did so she turned to Xander, "I guess that's the icing on the cake."

He nodded in agreement. "I'm convinced." He turned to Cole. "I didn't think a Whitelighter could faint."

"Neither did I," Cole replied.

After a few moments he realised that Leo wasn't coming to and, not being the most patient person on the planet, slapped him, lightly to ensure Piper didn't try and remove vital body parts, on the face.

"Leo, wake up!" he shouted in the Whitelighter's ear.

Leo slowly opened his eyes and when he saw Xander again, it looked like he was going to return to the land of slumber, but he managed to stay conscious this time. Once he had gotten his bearings back and was unable to stand without Buffy's support, he turned to Cole.

"Cole, do you know who he is?" he asked.

Cole didn't get a chance to answer as Xander answered for him. "I'm Xander Harris and I don't like being talked about in the third person when I'm in the room," he growled.

Taken aback by his anger, and realising that he was at fault, Leo put his hands up in an attempt to placate him.

"Sorry, it's just unexpected to meet you. I had always thought you were a myth."

"Well you were mythtaken."

"That was bad even for you Xand," Buffy groaned.

"Well I'm not exactly firing on all cylinders right now Buff." He turned his attention to Leo, "I wasn't exactly aware of the whole 'One Who Sees' stuff myself until this morning."

"So what do you know?" Leo asked.

Xander indicated to Cole. "Just what Cole here told me; that I am destined to kick the Source's ass and make it permanent but with no idea how I'm supposed to do it, or when."

Leo looked thoughtful for a few moments. "I don't think the when is that important," he said eventually.

Xander pinned him with a look. "It is if I'm not ready yet."

Leo shook his head. "That's not what I meant. There is no predestined time and place for your battle with the Source to occur, it'll happen when it happens."

Xander breathed a sigh of relief, happy that there wasn't a time limit like he's used to with prophecies. "That's good because I really don't have time for this at the moment."

Leo looked at him incredulously. "What do you mean you don't have time? What would be more important than this?" he asked/shouted.

"The lives of my friends and family for one. I live on the Hellmouth and Buffy here is the Slayer."

"That's not your war…" Xander went to grab him when he heard that, but Leo orbed out of the way before he had a chance. When Leo orbed back in, Xander was waiting for him and grabbed the Whitelighter before he had a chance to do it again, pinning him against the nearest wall.

"If one more person say that, I swear you will _never_ see me again and you'll have to deal with the Source yourselves," he threatened/promised.

Leo looked at him like he'd suddenly grown a second head. "You can't be serious!"

Xander just stared at him for a few seconds before responding, and when he did, it sent shivers down everyone's spines. "Try me."

Seeing and hearing the absolute conviction coming from Xander, Leo realised that he would actually do it. Once he came to that conclusion, he realised that he had to back down immediately or risk losing the best chance of defeating the Source.

"I'm sure we can sort something out," he said with a hitch in his voice.

Xander stepped back but kept a hold on Leo, a smile appearing on his face that reminded Buffy of the time he was possessed by the hyena. "I _knew_ you'd see it my way."

**Outskirts Of Los Angeles,  
California,  
Same Time.**

Anya was in an abandoned warehouse, surrounded by candles, and chanting in a dialect that was almost impossible for a human's vocal chords, but was somehow managing to pronounce the words correctly.

She had been doing this now for almost an hour and her throat was beginning to hurt, but she continued anyway, not wanting to let up for a moment until her call was answered. It had been a long time since she had used this and she hoped that he would answer, the last time they had spoken was the day they ended their relationship.

Another ten minutes passed and she almost given up when a large ball of fire suddenly appeared ten feet in front of her, dissipating after a few moments.

"Hello Malcolm," she said hoarsely, her throat hurting so much it was difficult to speak.

Standing before her was the Source, or Malcolm to the lucky few who had been allowed to call him by his real name. The fact that she hadn't been incinerated yet meant that she was still counted among them.

"Anyanka, I'm sorry I mean Anya, it's been a long time. How has your newfound humanity treating you?" he asked.

"I still miss my powers," she answered, "and the fact that I'm slowly ageing is more than a little annoying but otherwise I'm fine." Silence reigned in the warehouse for a few seconds before she spoke again in almost a whisper. "I've missed you."

"And I you, and I you. Please don't take this the wrong way, I am pleased that you called me, but I was wondering _why_ you called me? I hope that it is for more than to express how much you have missed my presence?" he asked, his voice taking a harder tone.

"It is Malcolm," Anya replied. She paused for a moment, allowing herself one more chance to decide whether this was the right thing to do. "I have news concerning 'The One Who Sees'."

In the blink of an eye, Malcolm was right in front of her, his eyes as black as Onyx. "What do you know?"

Anya had felt fear before, but never quite so strongly. Her voice was lost to her for several seconds and only returned once she was able to look away from the black pools that were his eyes.

"I know that he exists and who he is," she whispered fearfully.

If anything, she began to feel even more afraid as he leant closer towards her, their faces almost touching. His voice, nothing more than a whisper, made her spine feel like ice and her knees almost gave out.

"How do you know this?" he ground out.

"I've been dating him for more than a year." Seeing his ire increasing, she hastily continued. "He knew nothing of the legend and I never told him, hoping that I would be able to keep him from ever finding out. Yesterday however, Belthazor arrived to see me and recognised him for who he is, telling him of the legend. I tried to stop him but he wouldn't listen so I fled and came here. It took me a while to find everything that I needed to call you and did so as soon as I was able."

"Who is he? Where is he?" he demanded.

She gulped a couple of times, his anger once again causing her to temporarily lose her voice. "His name is Alexander Harris and he lives in Sunnydale," she told him, trying to ignore the guilt that was rising within her as she betrayed the only other male she had ever loved.

"The Hellmouth!" he roared, "the only place on the planet I cannot reach him!"

Fearing for her life, as Malcolm was becoming more and more enraged, she made her betrayal complete. "At the moment he is with Belthazor in San Francisco."

Malcolm's ire left as fast as it had arrived, as the knowledge that the one man that could possibly threaten his position was within his reach made him feel far happier.

"Ah yes, gone to see the Whitelighter and the Charmed Ones no doubt. Tell me Anya, why are you doing this?" he asked.

"I don't want anything to happen to you Malcolm," she answered, "I love you."

Malcolm smiled at her and moved away, allowing her to straighten up as she started to relax. "Anya, my dear sweet Anya, you know how I feel about you…" Malcolm trailed off as he waved his hand, causing Anya to scream in agony as she was burned from the inside out, until she was nothing more than a pile of ash. "… But I have a policy of not backtracking."


	5. Chapter Five

_**Chapter Five**_

******Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

"Why don't we continue this in your living room, that way we can be more comfortable," Cole suggested, hoping that Xander would go along with it.

Xander released Leo, smoothing down his shirt before motioning for him to show them the way to the living room. Cole went alongside Leo, Buffy and Xander following closely behind.

When they got to the living room, Xander and Buffy sat on the couch and Leo and Cole took the chairs either side of it.

"I shouldn't have grabbed you like that Leo," Xander conceded, albeit reluctantly, "but I don't take kindly to people who try to tell me what I should and should not consider my fight. I've had too many people try it too many times and I will _not_ tolerate it any more."

"I'm sorry as well," Leo replied, "it isn't my place to tell you what to do, especially when it concerns your friends and family."

"Apology accepted. As long as you and everybody else involved remember that I do this because I _choose_ to, we won't have any problems." Xander felt that he needed to reiterate something, "don't for one moment think I won't carry out my promise, I _always_ keep my promises."

Leo nodded in acceptance to that, he knew from the look in Xander's eyes that he wouldn't hesitate in leaving them to it if they tried to dictate to him what he could or could not do. Now that everyone knew where they stood, he decided to move the conversation along. "If you are willing to help, you will need to be trained in how to deal with your powers."

A puzzled look appeared on Xander's face. "I thought that I just had instinctual knowledge of a demons abilities and weaknesses and immunity to their powers or magic?" he asked.

Leo nodded, "those are your passive abilities yes," he answered, "but you are also have a natural born aptitude for magic, with an almost unlimited potential."

"Yeah, I've done _so_ well with magic before," he said with more than a little sarcasm in his voice.

"Different war, different magic. Any spells you cast or any spells that have been cast on you, by either agents of the First or the PTB, will not work on you the way they should."

"Yeah Cole already told me that, doesn't make me any more eager to find out."

"The magic used by the agents of the Source and of the Elders is different and more in tune with you. If the legend is accurate, you cannot be affected by this type of magic at all, although you do have an almost instinctive ability to wield it."

Buffy looked at Xander with a smile. "You'll be like Willow," she told him.

Leo looked at her in confusion. "Why would Xander be like a tree?" he asked.

"No," Xander said with a laugh, "Willow is my oldest friend. She's a practitioner, pretty powerful one too."

Leo recognised an inflection in Xander's tone when he said that. "I sense you're not happy about something."

Xander looked reluctant to say anything for a moment, but after a quick glance in Buffy's direction, he nodded and began to explain. "It's just that Willow has always had an insatiable thirst for knowledge, something that has worked well for her in most cases. With magic though she's learning all the spells, but she doesn't always take the time to learn the control necessary to use them correctly. A lot of her spells go wrong, or she casts spells without realising it. She's also starting to use magic for more than just a last resort. I worry that she's going too far too fast sometimes, but I don't know enough about magic myself to make any suggestions, not that she would listen to me if I did."

Buffy was surprised by what he was saying; she herself has had doubts sometimes when it came to Willow and magic, but she thought she was the only one. Seeing the troubled look in his eyes, places a hand on his shoulder. "You've never said anything to me about how you feel."

"What would you have done? If I had told you how I felt, you would have talked to Willow about it, she would have said it was just me worrying about nothing, which you would immediately accept as the truth and leave it as that."

She looked hurt that Xander believed she would think that, "I wouldn't do that," she said emphatically. She was sure that if he had come to her, she would have believed him, but seeing the look that Xander was currently giving her, she trailed off for a moment before continuing. "Would I?" she asked, more to herself than to him.

Xander smiled at her, but it was a sad smile. "If you have to ask, you've already answered the question." Buffy looked down at the floor, knowing he was right and feeling disgusted with herself over it. Xander could see how she was beating herself up over it and decided to change the topic. "Getting back on track, apart from the magical training you would like me to do, I'm guessing that there's more?"

"Yes," Leo responded, "when the time comes when you face the Source, it is said that your powers will cancel themselves out, meaning that you may well have to face him in combat. You'll have to go through a training regime to make sure that you're capable of defeating him."

Everyone turned to Buffy as she began to laugh. "What's so funny Buff?" Xander asked with a slight edge to his voice that the other men notice but Buffy either didn't or simply ignored.

She smiled apologetically at him before answering. "The thought of you training, you've never exactly been a fighter Xan."

The anger he had been trying to suppress the moment he heard her laugh about his training came rushing out of him when he heard her say that. "I've been helping you fight demons and vampires for _five_ years, having received nothing worse than a broken arm and a couple of concussions. Apart from Thanksgiving last year, I have never had to be admitted into hospital because of a demon, something none of you can claim."

"Xander…" she began but was quickly cut off by her friend.

"I haven't finished," he bit out. "You've never seen me as a fighter because you've never stopped to watch me fight, mainly because I'm normally guarding your back like I have done from the first day I met you." He stopped and everyone could tell that he was trying his best to calm himself down before continuing. "I'm not saying that I'm anywhere near your standards, but fighting things stronger and faster than me has got me pretty damn good."

Buffy nodded but everyone could see she didn't believe him. "If you say so."

Xander instantly recognised the tone in her voice as the one she used against vamps when she was getting impatient waiting for them to attack. "Look, I know you're trying to goad me into a fight, but as I said before, I know that I'm nowhere near your level and I'm fine with that. I would also never want to fight you, for real or otherwise, because you're one of my closest friends and even the thought of hurting you makes me feel sick to my stomach. If you do want to see a demonstration, I'm sure that Cole would oblige."

Leo looked at Xander strangely about that suggestion. "Cole doesn't know how to fight," he said with certainty.

Xander shook his head in disagreement. "Yes he does, he simply prefers to use his powers instead, knowing that there aren't many demons stronger than him. If he were to fight them, there is a greater chance of failure and Cole is too smart to take unnecessary risks."

Cole looked a little annoyed that he was being talked about while he was still in the room, and the fact Xander knew so much about him. It annoyed him more that there was nothing he could do about it.

"Do you know how annoying it is that you know _everything_ about me?" he asked Xander with a sigh, knowing he had just admitted that the young man was right.

Xander smiled mischievously at him. "Yep."

Cole couldn't help but laugh at that. "Just checking. Follow me to the basement, we set up a training room there for Phoebe."

"Works for me."

Buffy and Xander followed Cole and Leo to the basement. Once there, Xander and Cole started warming up in preparation while Buffy and Leo looked on.

"You didn't sound like you have much faith in Xander's abilities," Leo said to Buffy.

"I do, it's just that he's never shown any real aptitude for fighting before," she replied.

"As Xander said before, did you ever really stop to look?"

Buffy looked down at the floor, looking a little guilty. "Although I hate to say it, probably not. We've always, well _I've_ always tried to keep him out of the fighting, keeping him as 'fray adjacent' as possible. He's the normal one of us and I didn't want to see him hurt."

Leo caught the way she said the word 'normal' and didn't like it. "That's not it, you try to keep him out of it because you think he isn't good enough to be in the fight. You think that because he hasn't been endowed with any powers, he shouldn't be allowed to help," he said in an accusing tone of voice.

Buffy looked up at him in surprise. "That's not it at all!" she hissed, trying to keep her voice down so the others didn't hear.

Leo noted that she hadn't looked as sure after she said it. "Are you sure?" he asked.

Before she had a chance to reply, Xander and Cole indicated that they were ready to start. Cole decided to use a classic Karate stance, where as Xander was standing as though he were waiting for a bus. Buffy looked at Leo with a look of satisfaction.

"See, I was right. Xander doesn't even know how to _stand_ properly!" she exclaimed, happy to be proven right in her eyes.

Being a former soldier, Leo could see the look in Xander's eyes and smiled knowingly, aware that he had something planned even if the Whitelighter couldn't see it. "Appearances can be deceptive," he said cryptically.

Leo motioned to the mat and they looked back just in time to see Cole make the first move. He stepped forward quickly and went into a spin kick, trying to finish it quickly. Xander's left hand moved in a flash and caught Cole's leg and, using the half-demon's surprise, dropped down and kicked Cole's other leg out, causing him to drop unceremoniously to the floor. Xander quickly came over and simulated stabbing him in the chest before Cole had a chance to defend himself.

"If this were real and you were a vamp, you'd be dust now," he said with a grin as he helps Cole up.

"How did you do that?" he asked.

Xander just shrugged, "I learned from the beginning that I would never match a vampire in strength or speed so I realised that I had to use cunning. I always got more bumps and bruises when I showed I knew what I was doing, so I worked out a style where I would keep a neutral stance and still be able to defend myself."

Cole's eyes lit up in understanding. "Where they do the same thing as I did and underestimate you and have their asses handed to them."

"Don't get me wrong, it doesn't work every time, especially with the older vamps, so I do know how to handle myself in a prolonged fight. I use Aikido as I've found that it allows me to use their strength against them. Going blow for blow against a vamp or other demon will only lead me to the hospital on a gurney or in a body bag."

Cole looked slightly puzzled. "Why, you told me that you were stronger and faster since you were possessed by the hyena?"

"_What_!" Buffy screamed as she entered the conversation.

Seeing the glare that Buffy was giving Xander, and the one Xander was sending his way, Cole realised he may have put his foot in it. "I take it you haven't mentioned that before?" he asked rhetorically.

Buffy answered before Xander had a chance. "No he _hasn't._" she bit out.

Not liking the tone in her voice, Xander got angry again. "And if I _had_, what would you have done?" he asked, knowing the answer.

"Tried to find a way to reverse it of course!" she screamed.

Seeing Xander's expression transform from one of anger to one of hurt, Leo decided to speak up, especially given his conversation with her earlier. "Buffy, you were just telling me that you have always tried to keep Xander out of the fighting because he didn't have any extra abilities, now you're saying that if you knew he had extra abilities you would try to _remove_ them? Don't you think that is a little contradictory?" he asked, his tone showing he felt that question was an understatement.

Realising what she had said, and looking at the hurt expression on Xander's face, Buffy suddenly became flustered as to what to say. She didn't want to voice the real reason for her sudden outburst, and couldn't think of another reason that would be feasible given everything she said to Leo. "I, uh, what I meant to say was, uh…" she stammered.

Never liking to see Buffy uncomfortable if he could help it, Xander decided to let her off the hook. "Lets not talk about it now, I can see that Cole would like to return the favour and knock me on my ass, so I think we should get back to the sparring."

Realising what Xander was doing, Cole decided to go along with it, seeing as he was the one that got him into hot water in the first place. Well, that and the fact he really did want to return the favour.

"You won't catch me out as easily this time," he warned.

Xander's smile could only be described as chilling. "Ooh, sounds like a challenge to me."

Xander assumed a more conventional stance and they slowly circled each other, both more wary of the other now, Xander because he was aware Cole wanted a bit of payback and Cole because he realises he couldn't take Xander for granted.

Cole lost his patience first and stepped towards Xander, moving to make a palm strike with his right hand, a move that was blocked by Xander and countered when he overbalanced Cole by pulling on his arm, and then caught him with a knee to the abdomen, which he followed with an elbow to the back of the neck.

Cole rolled through the impact and span round, sweeping Xander's legs out from under him. Xander fell but kipped to his feet quickly, just in time to block the crescent kick that Cole was sending his way, but was unable to block the right hook that followed it. Xander used the momentum to his advantage, spinning with the impact allowing him to dodge the elbow that would have hit him square in the jaw.

They continued that way for the next ten minutes, both getting in as many shots as the other, neither one making too much ground on the other. Eventually Xander put his arms up to indicate that he wanted to stop.

"You're a very good fighter Xander, you would have had me several times if you weren't pulling your punches," Cole complimented.

Xander nodded in thanks for the compliment. "I could say the same to you."

Buffy looked at her friend a little amazed. "You were holding back?" she asked incredulously.

She had been watching them fight, and at times felt thankful she had enhanced vision, as they had often moved faster than a normal human's eyes could track. Xander was right when he'd said that he wasn't near slayer speeds or strength, but he was more than a match for any vamps that he might encounter.

She was seriously feeling guilty for all the times she had tried to keep Xander from fighting, as it seemed that he was more than capable of handling himself. It also made her feel guilty about something else as well, but now was not the time to think about it.

"I'm used to fighting to the death Buff," Xander explained, oblivious to her inner musings. "It's difficult to go full out and not cause serious and/or permanent damage, and with Cole being half demon, Leo wouldn't be able to heal him. I also use different tactics in the field, breaking kneecaps and severing spinal columns to incapacitate them, making it easier to stake them afterwards," he stated in a cool analytical tone that shocked and unnerved her.

Leo also looks shocked for a moment, both at the methods Xander uses and that fact that he had mentioned that he could heal. Then he remembered who had said it and just smiled and shook his head.

Xander suddenly turned to him with a thoughtful look. "Hey Leo, if I'm immune to all powers, does that include your healing abilities?"

"I haven't a clue actually," Leo replied, "it's never something I've thought about as I never thought I would meet you."

"It might be an idea to check that out under controlled conditions, just in case. I have a habit of being where the trouble is and don't want to wait until it's too late."

Before anyone could say otherwise, Xander took out a small knife he had in his back pocket and then sliced into his palm, wincing slightly as he did so.

"Xander!" Buffy shouted as she rushed to him, snatching the knife away before checking on him.

"Don't worry Buff, even if Leo can't heal me, it's only a superficial wound and won't even be there this time tomorrow," he said in a calming tone.

Xander motioned towards Leo, who walked over and tried to heal the cut. To Buffy's relief, the wound disappeared after a couple of seconds, the blood being the only evidence there had been a wound there at all.

"As you can see it works," Leo said, "but I had to put more effort into it than I would need to for anybody else. I'm not sure I would have the power to heal anything life threatening, at least not completely."

"Anything is better than nothing at all," he pointed out, Leo agreeing wholeheartedly.

Buffy slapped Xander on the back of the head, "I still can't believe you did that to yourself," she admonished.

Xander mock glared at her whilst rubbing his head. "You nearly died when you offered yourself up to Angel when he was poisoned and your blood was the only cure. What I just did is nothing compared to that."

"You're _never_ going to let that go are you! I couldn't let him die, I would do the same for you or any of the others!" she shouted.

"I wasn't having a go at you Buffy, I was simply pointing out that I'm not the only one who is willing to sacrifice a little pain to get the desired outcome. Anyway I would have rather found out now than when I'm _really_ hurt," he pointed out and she had no choice but concede the point.

"Fine, just tell me next time you do something like that." she suggested/ordered.

"Only if you do the same," he replied as he held out his hand.

"Deal." She shook his hand to seal the deal. "I better ring Dawn to let her know we're here."

"I forgot all about that, say hello to her and Joyce for me," he requested.

Buffy's smile faltered and Xander silently cursed himself for having caused it, knowing how hard she was taking her mother's illness.

"I will." Realising that she didn't actually know where the phone was, she looked to Leo.

"The phone is in the hall upstairs," he instructed before she could ask.

She flashed him a smile before heading up the stairs. "Thanks Leo," she called out before she closed the door to the basement.

**The Bellagio Hotel & Casino,  
Las Vegas,  
Nevada.**

The general hustle and bustle of the shopping area of one of the finest hotels on the strip seemed a little different today. One of the women perusing the shops seemed to be giving off an aura that caused everyone around her to keep a certain distance from her. As she moved, the people around her seemed to instinctively know and move along with her, maintaining their distance from her at all times.

All that changed when a man appeared as though from nowhere and walked right up to her, standing slightly behind and to the right of her for a few moments, looking over her shoulder before speaking.

"The shopping is lovely here isn't it?" he asked pleasantly.

The lady being spoken to whirled round in a blur of motion to face the infidel that dared to speak in her presence. "Who are you to speak to me!" she roared.

The man smiled, but she could tell that there was nothing humorous about this individual. "Do forgive me, my name is Malcolm, although you may know me better as the Source."

The woman snorted and moved to leave, deciding to continue with the far more important task of looking at the latest Prada collection. "I have no reason to know you, nor do I have any interest in finding out," she said haughtily.

Malcolm decided to follow her, not getting the hint that she wanted to be left alone. "That's as may be, but I know of one thing that you are interested in, _Glorificus._" Her steps faltered slightly, as the fact that he knew her name surprised her a little. "I have heard that you prefer to be called Glory these days, you don't mind if I call you Glory do you?" She ignored him, hoping that he would just get bored and leave her alone. "You are interested in the Key, are you not?" Once again she spun round, but this time she grabbed him by the throat and lifted him above her head.

It seemed that the aura she had been giving off earlier was still in full force as nobody really took any notice. Of course, it could also be that they were in Vegas, and they were expecting to see the unusual.

"Tell me where it is!" she demanded.

"Now there's no need for violence…" He made a gesture with his hands, making Glory release her grip and sent her flying through the air into a very tasteful floral display. "… Of course I'm not averse to it myself on occasion. I'm here to give you some information."

She glared at him menacingly, the lovely little red number she was wearing now smothered in mud. Of course this being the Bellagio it was high-class mud, but at the end of the day mud was mud.

"You know where the Key is?" she asked more subdued than before.

He shook his head. "Alas no, I'm unaware of that, even with _my_ influence. I do however know of a person who does."

"And that is?" she asked.

"A young man by the name of Alexander Harris. He is at the moment in San Francisco, visiting some friends."

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked, curious despite herself.

"The longer you are here, the higher the risk that your presence could interfere with my plans. Young Alexander could well become a nuisance to me as well, so when I found out he knew the whereabouts of the Key, I thought that I could kill two birds with one stone," he replied.

"If you are lying to me…" she trailed off, knowing the threat was viable.

"I know, I shall incur the wrath of Glorificus," he replied in a tone tinged with sarcasm. "What have you got to lose?"

"You can at least buy me a new dress, this one is ruined," she said, indicating her now dirty dress.

"It would be my pleasure," he replied, holding his arm out to her.


	6. Chapter Six

_**Chapter Six**_

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

"What's wrong with her mother?" Cole asked. At Xander's look, Cole went on. "You mentioned that the mother of one of your friends was in hospital."

"Brain tumour," Xander replied, his tone tinged with sadness as he thought about the woman he thought of as a mother's condition. "They hope to have got rid of it, but it manifested itself so suddenly I'm worried that it will come back."

Leo picked up on something he said. "What do you mean it manifested itself quickly?" he asked.

Xander got a thoughtful look on his face. "She had been suffering with headaches for a week or so, eventually going to see the doctor about it when Buffy, Dawn and myself all gave her the puppy eyes. She saw a specialist a couple of days later and they found she had the tumour. Don't tell Buffy this, but I was curious so I took a peek at her scan when the doctor was occupied. The tumour was large; it could be my Sunnydale paranoia but something that size should have been causing her problems far sooner than it had."

"What do you mean?" Leo asked, trying to see where he was going.

"I had an uncle, one of the few relatives that I could stand to be around, who was diagnosed with the same thing when I was twelve. I got Willow to help me with finding out everything I could about brain tumours; no one else would tell me what was going on so I had to find out myself. The size and position of the tumour she has, by my own research, should have been causing her far more discomfort than a few headaches and definitely much sooner than it did."

"I'm sure that it's not out of the realms of possibility that her symptoms simply didn't surface until recently," Leo pointed out.

Xander sighed in frustration. "I know that, this is why I haven't said anything to the others. I just can't help but feel that it was too sudden. Leo…"

Knowing what Xander was about to ask, Leo began to shake his head. "No; unless her illness was due to something mystical, there's nothing I can do. Even if it is mystical, I'm not sure that I would be able to do anything because the magic would be different."

"Could you at least try?" he asked almost pleadingly. "I give you my word that I will help you with the Source if you do."

"I will try, but you don't have to bargain with me, the fact that you tried is enough for me."

Xander sighed in relief. "Thank you. There will be one slight snag however."

"The fact that she lives on the Hellmouth," the Whitelighter said, having already thought of it.

"Yeah, and the fact I don't want the others to know, especially if you can't do anything."

"In that case you should talk out of earshot of people with enhanced hearing."

They all turned round to see Buffy coming down the stairs, looking at them as though they were vamps waiting to be staked.

Seeing his predicament, Xander started talking, fast. "Listen Buff, I just didn't want to get your hopes up if nothing happened. The last thing I want to do is cause you any more pain than you're already going through, and thinking that Leo could help only to find out that he can't is something I wanted you to avoid."

Seeing his sincerity, she toned down her glare to a hard look. "I understand that, I even appreciate it. That doesn't change the fact that she is my _mother_, you can't keep things like this from me."

Xander looked down feeling guilty, until Buffy came over and tilted his head so he was looking at her. Seeing that she was no longer angry he smiled slightly. "You're right and I'm sorry."

She smiled and gave him a quick hug, surprising him. "Apology accepted." She turned to Leo with a barely hidden look of hope in her eyes. "Is there anything you can do?"

He went over and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder, knowing that her emotions were on a knife-edge. "I won't know until I see her, but I will do everything that I can. Whereabouts in Sunnydale is the hospital?" he asked.

"On the outskirts of town, I think the mayor wanted it as far away from the Hellmouth as possible."

"Good," he replied, feeling confident that one obstacle was out of the way, "I might be able to go there if it's far enough away. I'll have to check with the Elders first for permission before we go, as she isn't one of my charges."

"Of course," Xander said, "just make them aware of what will happen if they say no," he added, his tone hardening. If the elders had a problem with helping an innocent woman just because they didn't have to, then Xander wouldn't be able to see them as any different to the demons he's been fighting all these years.

"I will," Leo told him, knowing that Xander would be extremely reticent to help them battle the Source if they didn't allow him to help. "Before I go, I think I'll go get Piper and the others, I'm sure they'll want to meet you." With that he orbed away.

"At least you'll get to meet the Charmed Ones before you go Buff," Xander noted to his friend.

"What do you mean before I go?" she asked, confused by his comment.

"I'm guessing that you'll be going with Leo to the hospital when he comes back."

"Well yeah," Buffy conceded, "but I'll be coming back."

"Don't think I want you to go, but why come back?" he asked. "You came to make sure I didn't get killed and thrown in a ditch by Cole and to be a witness to Leo's confirmation of my legendary warrior status. You've done both of those so there's no real reason to stay anymore."

"You're right that those reasons aren't valid anymore," she replied, knowing that he was correct, "but I want to stay a little longer. I don't want to deal with Riley just yet, as I still don't know what I'm going to do about him or our relationship."

"You can't put it off forever you know," he pointed out.

"I know that but, I can for another day or two. You should think about taking your own advice by the way," she pointed out, throwing it back at him.

"I would, but unlike you I don't know where my other half is. I'll go back with you when you do finally return and see if I can talk to Anya then OK?" he stated.

"Fine, so that means I can stay?" Buffy asked hopefully.

"Of course you can stay," Xander replied, pulling her into a hug, "I can't think of a reason why I would tell you to leave."

**The Source's Lair,  
Demon Underworld.**

The Source had just returned from his visit to Glorificus and had informed his second, Pretorius, of his plans.

"Please don't think that this is in any way a criticism my lord," Pretorius began carefully, "but do you think it is wise to send Glorificus against 'The One Who Sees'?"

"The way I see it Pretorius," the Source replied, speaking as though he were instructing a small child, "this is a win-win situation. Either she kills Alexander or he and his friends kill Glory. The result is that I have less thorn in my side."

"Yes my lord," he said, nodding his head vigorously, "I can see the genius behind it now."

"Of course you can Pretorius, that's why I haven't killed you. I do like to have people around me that have a similar way of thinking. You can leave me now."

"Yes my lord, thank you my lord." A ball of fire flew past Pretorius' head, narrowly missing him.

"Don't over do it," the Source informed him, his tone darkening slightly. "I like people to agree with me yes, but I don't like sycophants." Pretorius just bowed slightly and scurried away. "I do hope Alexander enjoys his meeting with Glory, I know I will."

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Leo orbed back in with Prue, Piper and Phoebe, none of the girls looking particularly happy.

"We haven't had a break in three years Leo and when we do, you bring us back!" Piper growled angrily.

"I said that I'm sorry Piper," Leo replied, acting like this wasn't the first time she'd yelled at him about bringing them back, "there's not much more I can do."

"Yes there is, you could take us back!" she snapped.

Xander stepped forward, trying to save Leo from a further tongue-lashing. "I'm sorry ladies, this is completely my fault. Leo thought you would want to meet me for some reason, I'm not sure why."

The sisters took their first look at Xander and after a moment Phoebe's eyes go so wide it looked as though her eyeballs would fall out. "I do, you're 'The One Who Sees'!" she exclaimed.

Xander groaned and turned to Buffy. "Is this going to happen every time I meet someone?"

She just shrugged and motioned to Leo. "At least they didn't faint like he did."

Leo looked like a deer caught in the headlights as all three sisters whipped their heads round to look at him, Piper trying really hard not to laugh, Phoebe and Prue not far behind.

"You fainted?" Piper managed to ask.

Leo just opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before he was able to speak. "It was a shock OK!"

All three sisters broke out into gales of laughter, quickly followed by Xander, Buffy and Cole. After a few seconds even Leo had a smile on his face.

After the laughter died down, Xander held his hand out to Piper. "I'm Xander Harris by the way."

"Hi, I'm Piper."

Xander took her hand and brought it to his lips before releasing it, causing the other sisters to giggle at the slight blush that appeared on Piper's features. Buffy just rolled her eyes.

"Nice to meet you." Xander looked at her strangely for a second. "You have the power to freeze things, don't you?"

Piper looked at him in surprise. "How did you know that?"

Xander just shrugged. "No idea."

Further conversation was cut off by another sister coming forward. "I'm Phoebe," she said in greeting as she held her hand out to him.

"It's a pleasure." Xander paused for a moment. "I hope I don't cause you to have a vision." He then repeated the action he did with Piper, bringing her hand to his lips before releasing it, and was rewarded with a smile from Phoebe. She then remembered what he said beforehand.

"How…"

Xander cut her off before she could finish the question. "No idea." Xander turned to the final sister. "By process of elimination, you must be Prue." He completed the set by kissing her hand in the same way as the other sisters, receiving a _very_ appreciative look from the oldest sister. "I'm guessing if I call you Prudence you'll hurl me into, or through, the nearest wall?" he asked with a smirk.

She glared at him but there was no malice behind it. "You better believe it."

"At least you didn't ask me how I knew you could do that."

She shrugged her shoulders. "I heard how you answered the last two times and figured there was no point."

"It's strange," Xander began, "Cole keeps asking me how I know things and he's known about me the longest of all of you, apart from Anya of course."

"Who's Anya?" Prue asked.

"I suppose she's my ex-girlfriend."

"You suppose?"

"She tried to dissuade Cole from telling me what I am, when that didn't work she tried to order me not to listen, and when _that_ didn't work she ran away," he explained.

"Why wouldn't she want you to know?" Piper asked.

"So I couldn't destroy the man she still loves I guess," he replied a touch sadly.

They all looked confused by that until Leo whispered into their ears what he meant and they all looked at him with sympathy in their expressions.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Phoebe said consolingly.

"It could be worse," he replied, "at least she didn't try to kill me like every other woman that has shown interest in me."

"That's not fair Xander," Buffy said, "Cordelia never tried to kill you."

"Maybe not physically, but can you honestly say she didn't make you feel like jumping off the nearest tall building from time to time?"

"… No, no I can't."

"Are you trying to tell us that every girlfriend you have had has tried to kill you?" Leo asked, finding that hard to believe.

"I've only really had two girlfriends; Cordelia could test the patience of Job and Anya is a former 1100 year old vengeance demon for scorned women, loving nothing more than explaining all the curses she has put on men. Then there's Faith whom I had a one-night stand with, she almost strangled me to death until DeadBoy hit her over the head with a baseball bat. Drusilla wanted to turn me, Ampata didn't actually try to kill me but she was going to suck the life out of my best friend, and Ms. French wanted to mate with me then bite my head off, literally."

Everybody was silent for a few seconds, allowing all of that to sink in, Cole being the first person to respond.

"You must have pissed off a _lot_ of people in a previous life."

Prue however picked up on something else. "DeadBoy?" she asked.

Xander went to smile until he noticed the stage eight glare coming from Buffy. "There is no way I can explain that without having to face an angry Slayer."

"Do you have to call him that?" she said exasperatedly.

Unable to help himself, Xander smiled as he answered. "No, I could call him Angie, or Captain Hair Gel, or the Forehead Avenger, or the Broodmeister or…"

Buffy was laughing in spite of the fact she was still glaring at him, albeit only a stage three glare now. "Stop already!"

Seeing Buffy laugh, Xander's smile widened. "You did ask. Oh forgive my manners ladies; Buffy, I'd like you to meet Prue, Piper and Phoebe, The Charmed Ones. Prue, Piper, Phoebe, I would like you to meet Buffy, the Vampire Slayer." Waves and smiles from the four women followed that introduction.

"Now everybody knows everybody else," Leo stated with a smile, "I better go talk to the Elders. I'll be back as soon as I can." With that, Leo once more orbed out of the room.

Buffy and Xander looked at one another, both hoping that he came back with good news.

**Glory's Limousine,  
En Route To San Francisco,  
California.**

Glory was drinking Dom Perignon champagne and eating strawberries, relaxing in the back of her, well the person she'd killed, limo. She was listening to the radio when a song came on and she had to sing along to.

"If you're going to San Francisco, Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair. If you're going to San Francisco, You're gonna meet some gentle people there…"


	7. Chapter Seven

_**Chapter Seven**_

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

"Xander, can I have a word?" Buffy asked.

Xander turned to Buffy and noticed the slightly anxious expression on her face. "Of course Buff."

Buffy noticed that the others were looking at them. "In private?"

Xander nodded and turned to Prue, the unasked question present on his face. "We'll stay down here, use the living room," she told him.

Xander smiled in gratitude. "Thanks."

He motioned for Buffy to go first up the stairs, following her up and then into the living room. They sat down on the couch together, angled so that they were facing each other.

"What do you want to talk about Buff?" he asked nervously. He had a sneaking suspicion concerning what it was she wanted to talk about, but had hoped that this day would never come.

Buffy just looked at him for a few moments, swallowing a couple of times in preparation to say whatever it was she wanted to say. "I'm going to ask you something and I want you to tell me the truth; do you remember what you did when you were possessed by the hyena?"

Xander felt like he'd just been violently kicked in the gut, everything that he had done whilst he was possessed flooding to the front of his mind. He bowed his head and replied in a voice so small that Buffy, even with her enhanced senses, had trouble hearing him.

"Yes."

She could almost see him shrink in size; the palpable waves of remorse for his actions acting like a compressor. She tried to ensure that when she spoke again, there wasn't even the slightest amount of accusation in it. "Why did you never say anything?"

He was still unable to look up and face her and, although she could not see his face, she could tell that he was doing his best to hold back tears. "What was I supposed to say; 'sorry I tried to rape you, won't happen again'? For a couple of weeks after everything happened, I thought about killing myself, as I was unable to stand what I almost did. Even now there are times when I close my eyes and I can remember what happened, and every time I feel so _disgusted_ with myself that I have to throw up. I don't even know how you can bare to _look_ at me, let alone consider me a friend."

She could hear the utter despair in his voice when he was talking about that day. She herself had endured more than one nightmare about what had happened for months afterwards, and there were times when she would find it uncomfortable being alone with him.

Those feelings had left a long time ago; she had been able to accept that he'd no control over what he had done and that he would never do anything like that to her, or anybody else. She could tell however that he hadn't done the same, at least not fully. "It wasn't you Xander, it was the hyena."

Xander finally looked at her, if only for an instant, and she was shocked by what she saw; absolute fear. No matter what they had faced or how bad things had gotten, she had never seen this much fear in his eyes. He had been scared yes, they all have at one time or another, but never to this extent.

She then realised why he's so afraid; it wasn't because she'd found out, it was because he thought she'd hate him.

"Rationally I know that," he told her, "but the reason it went after you to be his mate was partly because of my feelings for you at the time. You were the strongest woman around, but he could tell that there were others more willing. My own desires for you to be my girlfriend made it single you out. I did _everything_ I could to stop it, but I just couldn't, I just couldn't…"

Xander began to cry silently; finally saying out loud what he had been thinking for years breaking down the barriers he had built around his emotions. Buffy held him in her arms slowly, rocking him back and forth.

After a few minutes his crying stopped and he gently pulled himself away from her, still unable to look her in the eye. "I'm sorry, you should be the _last_ person to offer me comfort about this."

She lifted his chin so that he had no choice but to look at her, and sent him as reassuring a smile as she could muster. "I said this before and I'll say it again, it wasn't you it was the hyena. I know you would _never_ be able of something like that."

He gave her a small smile in return, before a questioning look flashed across his features. "Why did you ask?"

"When Cole let it slip that you kept some of the strength and speed, I noticed that you found it difficult to look me in the eye. It was the same just after you were possessed, but I didn't know you as well back then to notice. When I saw that you remembered, I was suddenly taken back to that day, which was why I was so adamant about wanting to reverse the effects if you had told us. I was suddenly worried that if you had the physical traits that you would also have the mental ones as well…"

Xander cut her off. "I swear to you, if I thought I would do _anything_ to you or the others I would kill myself long before I became a threat."

She grabbed his hand, giving it a little squeeze and smiled at him again. "I know that, I have done for a long time now. It looks like I did the same as you, bottled all my emotions up instead of facing them."

"I guess that we should confide in each other more, we should have learnt by now that keeping things from each other only ends in badness."

"Yeah, we should." Buffy suddenly jumped up and span round, only to see Leo orbing into the room. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack!"

"Sorry, it does take a little while to get used to. I'm surprised Xander didn't know."

Xander frantically started to wipe the tears away from his face. "I did, I just didn't think to warn her. What did the Elders say?" he asked.

"They said that they don't like ultimatums, but they are allowing me to try and help your mother in spite of that. They would like to see you Xander by the way."

"Is this a 'meet and greet' or a 'meet the parents' situation?"

Leo laughed slightly at that. "Probably a combination, it is very rare that they request to see anyone."

"Is that suppose to make me feel better or worse?" he asked with a small smile.

"Probably a combination. Where are the others?" Leo asked.

"Still down in the basement, Xander and I needed to talk about something."

"Oh, I didn't butt in did I?" he asked, suddenly noticing the way they were acting.

Buffy and Xander share a look before she shook her head in the negative. "No, we had just finished. I better ring Giles and tell him we're coming."

She smiled at them both before making her way to the phone.

Leo turned to Xander. "Everything OK?"

He paused a moment before nodding his head and smiling a little. "Yeah, we just talked about something that should have been discussed years ago. It's a habit we all have in Sunnydale, if you don't talk about it you can forget it happened, that is until something reminds you and it blows up in your face."

"That's not specific to Sunnydale," he pointed out, "that's more of a human trait than a Hellmouth one."

"You're probably right, it's just that the things we ignore are probably the stuff of other people's nightmares. Thank you again for this, helping Joyce I mean."

"Not a problem, I know that you would do the same for me if the roles were reversed. It's what friends do after all."

Xander's smile widened a bit at that. Xander turned to the door in time to see Buffy coming back.

"I've rung Giles, he'll meet us there," she told them both. "I think he wants to have a talk to you about Xander, he hasn't said anything but I could tell he wanted to."

"I understand," Leo said, understanding the other man's need to be kept informed of his charges well being. "You'll feel a little strange when we orb and might feel a little nauseous when we arrive."

Buffy smiled at him, "I'm sure I've felt worse, but thanks for letting me know."

"You ready?" he asked.

Buffy nodded in response.

"Then all you need to do is take my hand," he informed her.

Buffy did as he said and they orbed away to Sunnydale. Xander decided to back down to the basement and let the others know they could come up. As he walked down the stairs, Piper was the first to spot him.

"Xander did I just hear Leo?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he replied, "the Elders gave the green light so he and Buffy have gone to Sunnydale."

They could all see he was worried about Joyce; Prue going over to him and putting her hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. "I'm sure everything will be fine."

He smiled and nodded. "I know, it doesn't mean I won't worry. Joyce has been more of a mother to me than my real mother has ever been, but I've never had the courage to tell her."

"Why not?" Piper asked.

He smiled slightly and shook his head. "I don't know really, maybe fear of rejection or making a fool of myself I suppose."

"I'm sure that she knows, but it's probably a good idea to tell her at some point."

"I know and I will, I'll do the same to Giles as well, but changing mother with father of course."

The others laughed at that, lightening the mood in the room. "Of course."

Phoebe decided this was the perfect time to change the subject. "Cole was telling us that Leo wants you to learn magic."

"Yeah, I'm really not sure that's a good idea, or even necessary."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well I'm immune to magic, so I see no reason to know how to use it."

They could all hear the slight fear in his voice when talking about magic; they could all tell that he'd had bad experiences that were influencing his decision.

Knowing how protective he was about his friends, Cole decided to try a different tactic. "You may be immune but you are in the vast minority. How about instead of learning magic for offence, you learn it for defence? That way you can keep the people who _are_ affected safe."

Realising what Cole was doing, but recognising that he'd actually had a good idea, he nodded in acceptance. "I can't see a problem with that." He suddenly clapped his hands, making the other jump. "OK then, when do we start?" he asked them.

**Sunnydale Hospital,  
Sunnydale,  
California,  
Same Time.**

"Here we are," Leo stated, a little needlessly in Buffy's opinion.

Leo and Buffy had just orbed in, arriving just outside the hospital, and Buffy was swaying slightly and looking a little green around the gills.

"You weren't wrong about the nausea were you?" she asked.

Leo stifled a laugh, realising that pissing off a Slayer was not the smartest thing in the world to do. "You get used to it."

She turned round to face him, just catching the smile he tried to hide. "I hope so." She then glared at him. "For your sake." At his slightly nervous look, she smiled to tell him she was joking, mostly. "I take it we are far enough away from the Hellmouth?"

"Yeah, the Elders assured me we would be safe, I wouldn't have brought you along otherwise."

She glared at him again, this time for real. "Why not?" she asked with an edge to her voice.

"Let's just say that nausea would have been the least of your worries if we were too close." Hearing the tone in his voice she decided to let it drop. "What room is your mother in?" he asked.

"415," she replied, "it's this way."

Leo and Buffy made their way into the hospital, navigating smoothly through the hospital corridors and took the elevator to the fourth floor. There was a silence between them, Buffy worried about her mother and Leo worried that he wouldn't be able to help. Once they get to room 415, Buffy knocked twice before opening the door and going inside, motioning for Leo to follow. Joyce was lying in her bed, Dawn sitting on the chair beside her.

"Hello dear, I thought that you were in San Francisco?" Joyce asked her daughter.

"I was," she replied as she went over to hug her mom, "Leo here brought me back for a little while."

Leo stepped forward and smiled at the other two Summers women. "Hello Mrs. Summers, Ms. Summers, I'm a friend of Xander's."

"Please," Joyce replied, "call me Joyce, and this is Dawn."

Dawn waved and smiled at him. "Hi. How's Xander?" she asked.

Leo staggered back a step, suddenly feeling a little light headed. Buffy looked at him in concern but he just smiled and shook his head, indicating that he was fine. After a moment he responded to Dawn's question.

"Xander's fine, he's back in San Francisco with Cole, Piper my fiancé and her sisters at the moment." Leo turned to face Joyce. "He's asked me to check up on you, to make sure everything is OK."

"What do you mean by that?" she asked.

Leo looked at Buffy and motioned towards Dawn, Buffy quickly getting the hint. "Come on squirt, I'll treat you to an ice cream."

"You could have just said that the grown ups want me out of the way so they can talk you know."

"Dawn," Joyce said to her youngest daughter, "go with your sister please."

"Fine," she said petulantly, before turning to her sister, "but you're still buying me ice cream." Dawn then led Buffy out of the room, leaving Leo and Joyce alone.

"OK," Joyce began, "Leo isn't it?" He nodded in acknowledgement. "What is going on?" she asked.

"Xander is worried that your… condition may not be a natural occurrence."

"You mean to say that Xander thinks someone did this to me? Why would they _do_ that?" she asked appalled.

"I'm not sure, and Xander isn't 100 sure he's right, which is why I am here. If he is right, it could be a ploy to distract Buffy from her duties as a Slayer, keeping her preoccupied so they can do whatever it they need to do."

Joyce's eyes widened at the thought that there were people out there that would do all that just to get what they want. What really worried her was that she wasn't surprised by the thought.

The protective instincts that any mother should have came to the forefront of her mind. "What do you need to do?" she asked.

"All I need do is lay my hand on your head," he responded.

She thought it over for just a moment before responding. "Do it."

Leo was shocked by the quickness of her decision. "This will sound strange, especially considering the source, but you're trusting me rather quickly."

She smiled at him in a way only a mother can manage. "You came in with Buffy and haven't been killed and Xander considers you a friend. I need nothing more."

The faith she had in her daughter and Xander touched Leo deeply and he smiled. "Alright, this may feel strange but there won't be any pain, I give you my word."

He waited for her nod of acceptance before he placed the palm of his right hand on Joyce's forehead and began to check her for traces of mysticism. A blue glow appeared, surrounding his palm and her head, as he did indeed detect mystical interference, proving that Xander was correct in his suspicions.

As he was about to heal her completely, given that the surgeons were not as thorough as they had thought, he noticed that the tumour seemed to be connected to memories Joyce had of Dawn. Not wanting her to lose those memories, he carefully removed the affected cells while leaving the memories intact.

Once he was finished, he removed his hand. "All done," he told her with a smile. "Xander was right about magic being involved, but it seems to be an after effect as opposed to it being the intended result. Either way, I have removed all trace of it so you won't have any relapses or pain anymore."

A beaming smile appeared on Joyce's face and Leo could finally see where Buffy had gotten her looks. Before his interference, Joyce had a look of weariness that had made her look older, his removal of her trouble had allowed the natural beauty that all Summers women seemed inherit shine through.

"I do feel a lot better," she told him, her voice holding a lightness that had previously been missing, "how can I ever thank you?"

Leo smiled and shook his head. "There's nothing to thank me for, it's what I do."

Joyce rolled her eyes and snorted, in a very ladylike way, to that comment. "You've only been around Xander for a day or two and he's already rubbing off."

Leo looked at her strangely due to that cryptic comment. "What?"

"He thinks going out of your way to help someone is nothing out of the ordinary as well, that it's almost expected. It is both endearing and frustrating at the same time."

For a moment Leo didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult, deciding to take it as the former. "We can't help being the way we are I'm afraid, believe me Piper has tried with me several times. Do you want me to get Buffy and Dawn?" he asked.

"Yes please," Joyce replied, wanting to give her daughters the good news, "but don't say anything, I want to be the one to tell them."

Leo nodded in understanding, knowing that he would be the same in her position. "I won't say anything," he assured her, "but Buffy already knows why I'm here and she'll work it out."

"I know; she's smart like that. Shame she can't be the same when it comes to her boyfriends," she muttered, loud enough for the Whitelighter to hear.

Startled by the sudden change in topic, he tried to politely remove himself from the conversational minefield. "That's not for me to comment about, not knowing any of her boyfriends."

Joyce's features twisted into a scowl, something that looked completely out of place on her face. "Believe me, you're not missing anything."

Leo decided that this was the perfect time to make a hasty retreat. "Right. I'll, uh, go get them."

As he went to open the door, Buffy almost knocked him down as she opened it first. "Sorry Leo," she said giggling slightly.

"Not a problem. Your mother would like to talk to you both."

Buffy looked at him and he couldn't help but smile, which got wider as Buffy's entire face lit up and tears began to form in her eyes as she realised what had happened. She went to say something, but he shook his head slightly and looked at Dawn, oblivious to the exchange as she was tucking into a Popsicle. Buffy mouths a thank you and then led Dawn into the room, closing the door behind her.

A tap on his shoulder caused Leo to turn round, and saw an older gentleman with glasses looking at him expectantly. "Yes?" he asked.

"I'm Rupert Giles, Buffy's watcher," Giles said in greeting, extending his hand.

Leo smiled and shook his hand. "Buffy said that you would be here Mr. Giles and told me that you wanted to talk to me."

"Yes I do and please, call me Giles, everyone does. Have you been able to help Joyce?" he asked hopefully.

Leo smiled and nodded his head. "Yes, her condition was caused by magic so I was able to heal her."

Giles smiled brightly, the action causing him to look years younger. "That's fantastic news, I know that both Buffy and Dawn have been very worried about their mother, although they have tried not to show it in front of anyone. Do you know what caused it?" he asked intrigued.

Leo looked puzzled as he shook his head. "No, as I told Joyce it wasn't the intended cause of the magic, more of an after effect. There was something strange however."

"Yes?" he asked.

"The area of her brain that was affected contained the memories she has of Dawn, I had to be very careful not to erase her existence, to Joyce anyway."

Giles suddenly started to look uncomfortable. "Yes, well, I'm sure that it's nothing more than a coincidence."

Leo could tell that Giles knew something, but didn't say anything about it. "You're probably right. Buffy suggested that you also wanted to talk about Xander."

Giles looked surprised at that, not having said anything to her. "She did? Sometimes I forget how observant she can be, seeing as she doesn't show it very often. Is Xander 'The One Who Sees'?" he asked, getting to the crux of the matter.

Leo laughed slightly. "You don't believe about beating about the bush do you?" he asked.

"Not when it comes to my children no."

"Simply put; yes, Xander is 'The One Who Sees', destined to fight and destroy the Source."

Giles gave Leo a look at his use of the word 'destined'. "Xander doesn't like destiny or prophecy Leo, I wouldn't advise using it against him."

"Believe me I already know," he replied, remembering the look in Xander's eyes when he said that to him, "if I weren't already dead I would have feared for my life when I tried."

Giles smiled at that. "I can quite imagine, I've had my own encounter with Xander when he's less than happy and it is not something I would like to repeat, although I'd never admit that to him. The only thing that's worse than talking to him about destiny and prophecy is if you try to tell him not to fight at all."

"I somehow managed to do both at the same time the first time we talked."

"In that case you should be very glad you're already dead," Giles informed him seriously, "although with the things that we have dealt with over the years, that doesn't mean you're safe." Seeing that his point had been put across, Giles steered the conversation back on course. "Getting back on topic, what does that mean for Xander?" he asked, his concern for Xander visible in both his demeanour and tone.

"As you probably know," Leo began, trying to think of the best way to describe what Xander would be in for, "magic has never reacted well with him and there have been times, this being a notable example, where he has known or noticed things that no one else did. Against the Source, those abilities are more powerful. Basically he is immune to any and all powers and magic that the Source or any of his agents throw at him. He will also instinctively know the different types of demon, their powers and their weaknesses. The same goes with the Elders and their agents, including myself, although I am able to heal him somewhat."

Giles looked intrigued by this piece of information. "And how did you find this out?" he asked.

Leo paused before responding, aware of what Giles' reaction would probably be. "He sliced his palm open."

"What!" he roared.

Leo decided it would be best to calm Giles down. "He did it before we had a chance to stop him; he said he wanted to test it under controlled conditions rather than in the field."

"Those damn soldier memories are going to get him killed one day," he ground out, wanting nothing more than to throttle the boy at that moment for being so stupid.

"Talking as a former soldier myself, it made good sense to check whether I was able to heal him before he really needed it, something that could happen at some point."

"I thought you said he couldn't be hurt," he pointed out.

"He can't, but it was my understanding you already knew that, and yet Buffy insisted she go with him to protect him from Cole."

"Sorry, you're right of course. We actually deal with very few demons that actually have powers beyond the physical; strength, speed, stamina, that sort of thing. I don't know why I forgot that."

"As you said yourself, he's one of your children. It's understandable to worry."

Realising that he had indeed called Xander one of his children, Giles looked a little embarrassed that he'd admitted it. "He's not really one of my children, I don't actually have any."

"By blood maybe, but in every other way that matters you have at least two, probably more. I'm afraid that I can't give you the guarantees you're looking for; I can't guarantee his safety with us anymore than you can here. What we all do is dangerous by definition and we all know that tomorrow might not come for us. What I can tell you is that if Xander decides to, he will be part of the final strike in a war that has been going on as long as the one you are a part of. If he wins, not only will we win the battle, he'll win the war, something that no one has ever been able to claim before."

"And if he fails?" the former Watcher asked, fearing that he already knew the answer.

"I don't want to sound heartless, but the War goes on, we regroup and start again. I wish I could give you more encouraging news but I'd rather be honest than give you false hope."

"It's not your fault Leo," Giles informed him, "it's the world we live in and I appreciate the candour. Thank you for talking to me."

Leo smiled and handed Giles a piece of paper. "Here is my phone number, if you ever want to talk to someone use it. I'm probably in the unique position of knowing what you go through, our jobs are pretty much the same after all."

"I might take you up on that some day. I think I'll go see how they all are."

"OK, tell Buffy that I'm ready when she is."

"I will."


	8. Chapter Eight

_**Chapter Eight**_

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

They all looked at Xander in surprise, Phoebe asking the question they all had on the tips of their tongues. "You changed your mind pretty quickly Xander."

Xander just shrugged. "Yeah well, once I've set my mind to something, I see no point in wasting time."

The three sisters looked at each other for a moment before Piper spoke. "Well before we actually begin, you'll need to learn and understand the three-fold rule."

He looked at them like they had just asked him to work out the square root of 15,437. "You've lost me."

Cole found that strange given what he knew about his friends. "I thought you told us that you have a friend who's a witch?" he asked confused.

"I do," he replied, unsure what Cole was getting at, "her name is Willow as I said."

"So how come you don't know about the three-fold rule?" he asked.

Taking this as a slight against Willow's character, Xander got angry. "How about you tell me what it is and then I might be able to tell you," he said with barely restrained anger.

Realising how Xander took his last comment, Cole put his hands up in apology and stepped back, allowing the sisters to explain.

"The three-fold rule is the first and most important rule any witch should learn and adhere to," Prue began to explain to the now calm Xander. "Any good thought or deed will be repaid back three times over. The flipside is that any bad thought or deed will also be repaid three times over."

Xander could see how this would be important to know and he suddenly began to wonder why he'd never heard of it until now. "I get that, it's simple and yet effective. As to why I've never heard of it before, I'm not sure to be honest. It sound like the sort of thing that anyone using magic should know, of course I've never actually used magic myself before."

"Do you believe Willow is aware of this rule?" Piper asked, worried that there might be practising witches out there unaware of the basis of witchcraft.

"I have no idea," he answered truthfully. "Willow is basically self-taught, learning from spell books written in languages that I can't even pronounce the names of, let alone read. As she hasn't had a teacher, she may not have been told. To be honest, we've all had to grow up so much so fast the past few years, that sometimes we don't get to think about what we're doing until after we've done it, which is generally too late."

They could see why he may not have heard it before, but they all looked a little worried that his friends may not know, or follow, the rule. "I can understand that, I mean you have been doing this since you were sixteen," Prue said, trying to find a way of explaining it that wouldn't anger him. "It is a little worrying though that, with all of the magic users you have been around, you have never heard of the main rule in witchcraft."

Seeing their looks of worry, he tried to put them at ease. "How about when I go back to Sunnydale I ask if they've heard of it, explaining it to them if they haven't. Sound fair?" he asked.

They all seemed to visibly calm themselves at his statement. "Alright that's fair," Prue agreed. "We won't actually be able to start you on the practical aspects for a day or two, we need to get some extra supplies in. We also need to work out which one of us gets to teach you, it would just get confusing you if we all did. Even though we all know the same things, we all have our own ways of doing things."

"I know the proverb about too many cooks spoiling the broth so I understand. Of course, I like the thought of three beautiful women arguing over little old me," he said, waggling his eyebrows and putting a leer on his face.

The sisters all smiled at the compliment and his antics. Cole stepped forward, mock glaring at him.

"Watch it Xander, one of those beautiful women is my girlfriend."

Xander just smirked at him, as if to say 'and your point is?'.

Piper then spoke up. "And another is engaged," she informed him, although to Xander it sounded like she was a little disappointed. He shook that off as wishful thinking.

Xander made a big show of slumping his shoulders and sighing. "That narrows it down to you then Prue, that is if you want to take me under your wing."

He slid over to her and made a show of putting his arm around her, causing her to stifle a giggle.

"I don't see how that would be a problem," she replied, finding that she enjoyed the fact he was holding her.

Prue then got a mischievous smile on her face, which was soon matched by the other sisters. Cole recognised that look and smirked at Xander.

"You have no idea what you have let yourself in for Xander."

Xander just looked at Cole. "Cole, you have met the people I hang around with haven't you?"

Cole looked puzzled for a moment at that, before he realised what Xander was getting at and smiled. "You'll be fine."

All three sisters turned to look at him at the same moment, something that both Xander and Cole found more than a little freaky. "What do you mean he'll be fine?" Phoebe asked her boyfriend, her tone playful but tinged with an inflection that Cole had heard before.

"Xander has a habit of being friends with women with strong personalities. You may not have met Buffy long, but you couldn't describe her as a wallflower could you?" he asked with a slight smile.

The sisters laughed at that. "No, definitely not," Phoebe replied.

**Sunnydale Hospital,  
Sunnydale,  
California.**

Buffy was still in Joyce's room, sitting at the foot of her bed. Giles had left a few minutes ago as he was going on patrol with Willow and Tara, leaving Spike and Riley to patrol together, something that neither was happy about. Buffy had laughed for a full minute when she'd heard that, thinking that if they survived the night it would be a miracle.

"What are you going to do now mom?" she asked Joyce. "I mean there's no real point in you staying here for another day or two until the doctor's let you go."

"I'm probably going to check myself out," she replied, smiling at the thought of being able to go home. "The doctor's won't be happy, but I have had about enough of doctor's to last me a lifetime. It'll be nice to sleep in my own bed."

Dawn smiled widely at that. "I know I'll be glad you're there, Giles has been trying to get me to drink tea the entire time you've been in here and Buffy has let him."

Buffy just smirked at her. "Why should I be the only one he tries to convert?"

Joyce smiled at her daughters' antics before turning her attention to Dawn. "He hasn't really been _that_ bad has he?" she asked.

Dawn smiled and shook her head. "Not really, but he's not you."

Joyce kissed her on the top of her head. "That's nice of you to say dear. How long are you here for Buffy?" she asked.

"Not that long," Buffy replied, "Leo and I will be going back to San Francisco soon."

Dawn, although she'd never admit it, was missing having Buffy around. "Why? You left because Xander might have been going into a trap, which you now know he isn't, so there's no need to protect him, not that there was a need in the first place as he can look after himself." Dawn has had a crush on Xander since she's known him and was always the first to wax lyrical on how great he is.

"I know that now," she informed her little sister, "I watched him spar with Cole and he is good, very good actually."

Joyce saw the way Buffy smiled at the memory and filed it away for another time, hospital rooms not being the best place to have certain talks.

"So why go back?" Dawn asked again.

"Because he's just been told he's got this big destiny, one bigger than mine, and I want to be there for him. He's been there for me enough times in the past, and it's about time I returned the offer. We'll be back soon, Xander only has a couple of days off work and I can't be away from college too long."

Buffy yawned and Joyce decided that she needed to cut the conversation short. "It's getting late, I'm sure that Leo would like to get home at a reasonable hour. It wouldn't hurt for you to get a decent night's sleep yourself you know."

Buffy pouted at her mother. "Are you trying to get rid of me?" she asked in a hurt voice.

Joyce smiled slightly. "Is it working?"

Buffy pouted harder, but couldn't help smiling. "Very funny mom," she said sarcastically.

"I thought so. Ring me tomorrow to let me know how you are OK?" she asked/stated.

Buffy nodded and got up off the bed. "OK. I love you mom and I'll see you soon." She kissed Joyce on the cheek and ruffled Dawn's hair, causing Dawn to scowl at her. "Don't cause too much trouble while I'm gone squirt."

"Send my love and thanks to Xander will you?" Joyce asked.

Dawn smiled and nodded in agreement. "Ditto."

Buffy smiled and left the room, finding Leo sitting on one of the chairs outside. Leo looked up and saw her.

"You ready to go?" he asked her once she was standing in front of him.

Buffy nodded. "Yeah. I want to thank you for helping my mother, I have no idea how to repay you."

Leo smiled at her. "Your thanks is payment enough. We better find somewhere a little more secluded before we orb, I've noticed how you can talk about anything around here and not get disturbed, but I don't want to push my luck."

"Why not my mom's room," she suggested, "I'm sure they'll get a thrill out of the light show."

Leo mock bowed. "I love to entertain."

Buffy laughed and went back into Joyce's room, Leo following close behind.

"What's wrong honey?" Joyce asked, wondering what caused her daughter to come back in so quickly.

Buffy smiled and shook her head. "Nothing mom, we just needed somewhere out of the way to go back. Hey Dawn, you want to see something cool?" she asked, knowing she'd get a kick out of watching them orb.

Dawn nodded her head enthusiastically, knowing that whenever Buffy had something to show her it was always good. "Yeah."

"Watch this, hit it Leo!" she said in her best theatrical voice.

Leo took her hand, and as he waved goodbye to Joyce and Dawn, orbed himself and Buffy to San Francisco, the room brightening from the sparkling blue light that enveloped them.

"Cool!" Dawn exclaimed.

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Moments after leaving Sunnydale, Buffy and Leo arrived back in the living room of the manor. Buffy still felt a little queasy, but nothing like the first time.

"You're right it is a little easier the second time," she informed the Whitelighter.

"It helps that you were prepared for it this time."

Xander and the others came up from the basement, Xander having sensed Leo's return, and joined them in the living room. "Hey guys, how did it go?" he asked, hoping Leo was able to help.

Buffy, on impulse, ran over and hugged Xander fiercely and gave him a kiss on the cheek. When she released him she could see he was blushing profusely and giggled. "Does that answer your question?" she asked.

Xander was still a little shell-shocked so Prue decided to take over the conversation. "I take it Joyce is OK now?" she asked them.

Leo nodded. "Yeah, Xander was right about Joyce's condition being caused by magic. I was able to remove it and she's now completely healed."

Everyone smiled at the news.

"That's great news," Piper said to the beaming Buffy. "Any idea what caused it?" she asked her fiancé.

Leo shook his head. "No, but I do know that it wasn't a direct attack on Joyce. It seemed to be more like an after effect of another spell, but what that spell was, or why it was cast, I couldn't tell you."

"Well the important thing is that she's better now."

Buffy yawned again, rather loudly, causing everyone in the room to smile at her. She looked at them a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I didn't know I was this tired."

"I think that this is the perfect time to call it a day. Have you worked out where you're staying?" Piper asked them.

Xander answered this one; finally back from wherever he went when Buffy kissed him. "We thought we'd just find a local hotel or motel nearby."

She nodded. "OK, well I need to go to P3 and check it's still in one piece so I can help you find somewhere."

Phoebe shoved her playfully. "You just love making them all think you're trying to catch them out."

"Well the boss has to get their fun somewhere," she replied. "There's a couple of good value places in that area, I'm sure we'll find something nice for you."

Both Xander and Buffy smiled in gratitude. "Thanks."

**Penthouse Suite,  
The Ritz Carlton Hotel,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Someone knocked on the door several times, causing Glory to contemplate killing whoever it was on general principle. The only thing stopping her was that she would have to move hotels, and she liked the colour of the couches. She went and opened the door herself; a task that disgusted her but needs must. Her servants were far too ugly to be allowed in such nice surroundings, so she sent them out to find information on where this Alexander she came to find was staying.

Glory glared full force at the bellboy standing there, causing him to cower slightly in fear for a moment before he got the courage to speak.

"Good evening miss, a gentleman just left this envelope for you at reception."

Glory snatched the envelope from him and slammed the door in his face, hating the fact she had to leave his head attached to his shoulders. She opened the envelope to find two pieces of paper, one with a note and one with an address. She ignored the second for the moment and began to read the first.

_Glory,_

_Please find enclosed the address of where you will find Alexander tomorrow. Please say hello from me will you?_

_Have fun,_

_Malcolm._

_P.S. If you get the urge to destroy the house and everyone in it, go with the feeling. Depriving yourself of life's little pleasures is bad for the soul._

"I hope you have a nice night's sleep Alexander, as you're going to have a _very_ busy day tomorrow."


	9. Chapter Nine

_**Chapter Nine**_

**Outskirts Of Los Angeles,  
California.**

Angel, Cordelia and Wesley got out of Angel's car and started looking round for anything out of the ordinary. "This is where the Host said the mystical energy spike occurred," Angel informed his two team-mates/friends.

The Host had rung Angel and told him that a large mystical phenomenon had occurred earlier in the day. As his sunlight allergy was still prevalent, he had waited until sundown before going with Wesley and Cordelia to the focal point of the phenomenon, the warehouse district, to investigate. While Lorne hadn't been able to tell him much about the nature of the phenomenon, the cynic in the Champion of the Powers That Be told him to expect the worst.

Angel stopped suddenly, causing the other two to stop as well. "We should go this way, I smell something."

Cordelia looked at him strangely, not being able to smell anything herself, before remembering his senses were more enhanced. "Like what?" she asked.

"Magic and death," he replied solemnly.

She was silent for a moment, something to be treasured by those that knew her. "Sounds like we should go that way then."

Angel suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at Cordelia, instead following on with his previous suggestion of following the scent, which lead them to an abandoned warehouse almost at the city limits. When they went inside, they found a circle of candles surrounding a diagram of some sort drawn in salt.

"Although I'm not an expert, I have never seen a symbol like this one before. Have you Angel?" Wesley asked.

He shook his head slightly, but stopped after a moment and thoughtful look crossed his face as he remembered something. "No, at least not this specific one. It looks a little like a symbol used in summoning higher-level demons. The reason you haven't seen it before is that these are only given by invite, so it won't be found in any book."

Always interested in new information, Wesley looked at Angel like a kid in a candy store. "How did you come to see one?"

Angel suddenly looked pensive, as though the memory was uncomfortable for him. "Angelus did a demon lord a favour, and he needed the symbol to contact them. We need to have a look around and find out who or what did the summoning and what was summoned."

They split up and start searching the warehouse, looking for anything that will lead them to the summoned or the summoner.

After a few minutes Cordelia shouted out to the other two. "Guys, I think I've found something."

They go over to Cordelia's location. "What is it Cor?" Angel asked.

"It's a purse, it's new and expensive so definitely not belonging to a local."

"Any ID?" Wesley inquired.

"Hang on a sec." Cordelia opened the purse and started looking through it, quickly finding a drivers licence. "Oh my god!" she exclaimed.

"What is it?" Angel asked concerned at what would cause Cordelia to react that way.

"It's Anya's."

Angel and Wesley looked at each other, trying to place the name.

"Who's Anya?"

"Xander's girlfriend," she informed them.

"Are you sure?" Angel asked.

"There can't be too many Anya Jenkins' that live in Sunnydale California," Cordelia replied snarkily.

For a moment, Angel allowed his dislike of Xander to distract his brain. "Xander really has bad taste in women."

Cordelia glared at Angel and he almost took a step back as she screeched at him. "HEY!"

Realising what he said and who he said it to, he quickly tried to dig out of the hole he'd put himself in. "Present company excluded of course."

She maintained the glare for a couple more seconds to ensure that he got the message that he did wrong before speaking. "Damn right. I wonder where she went; from what Xander tells me she isn't the type of person to leave a purse behind."

Angel spotted a pile of ash off to one side and inspected it. "She didn't," he said solemnly.

Wesley and Cordelia turned to look at him.

"Huh?" Cordelia asked.

"She didn't leave it behind, she's dead."

They both looked at him, shock plainly written across their faces.

"What?" Wesley asked.

"What's left of her is over here," he said, indicating the ash.

They both looked slightly ill at that, death always being harder to face when it was close to home.

Wesley was the first to speak. "Should we ring Xander and let him know?" he asked them.

Cordelia looked at him sharply. "Wouldn't you want to know that your girlfriend was dead?" she snapped.

He looked down at his feet, looking decidedly guilty for his stupid remark. "Yes, of course, sorry I asked."

Silence once again permeated the empty warehouse for a few moments.

"I'll do it," Cordelia said out of the blue.

"Are you sure Cor?" Angel asked her. "I mean telling someone a loved one is dead is difficult to do, it needs to be done carefully."

"I know I'm not the most diplomatic person at times, but I'm the only one of us that won't get the phone hung up on them."

"Good point," he conceded, knowing that Xander would rather have all of his teeth pulled without anaesthetic before he willingly spoke to the souled vampire.

Wesley looked at her strangely. "Why would Xander hang up on me?" he asked her.

"You do remember what you were like in Sunnydale don't you?" she said in way of a reply.

Remembering that he was basically a pompous prick back then, he nodded in acceptance. "Ah, yes, I can see your point."

Cordelia went for her cell phone but Angel stopped her. "It's too late to ring now, let's leave it until morning. I'll arrange for someone to collect her remains; I'll ensure that they're put somewhere nice."

"Shouldn't you let Xander decide that?" she asked him, not liking the fact that he was taking something so important out of Xander's hands, also knowing that Xander might not be best pleased himself.

"He'll want to see her, do you want to put him through that?" he replied, allowing his compassion over what had happened to overrule his dislike for the young man.

Wesley and Cordelia looked at each other and then at Anya's remains before shaking their heads.

"No."

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California,  
The Following Morning.**

Everybody was sitting around the dining room table having breakfast and enjoying each other's company. Piper had been true to her word and helped Buffy and Xander find a nice place to stay, leaving them with an open invitation to join them for breakfast, an invitation they both eagerly accepted.

Xander had decided to hire a car while they were there, not wanting to burden the others with ferreting them from one place to the other while they were in San Francisco, and had done so before arriving at the manor.

Both Buffy and Xander found themselves really liking Cole and the others; the revelations of the past couple of days had finally sunk in enough to allow them to get to know the people behind the powers. They got on with Phoebe straight away, as with her being the closest to their own age, they had quickly found some common ground from which to build from.

Phoebe was enjoying not being the youngest in the group anymore, even if it was only going to be for a short time. Even though she loved her sisters more than anything, she sometimes felt as though her sisters coddled her and didn't always see her as an adult in her own right.

Both Cole and Leo were glad to have another male to talk to, as was Xander for that mater. Although they all knew they wouldn't trade their friends and chosen family for the world, it was sometimes annoying to be in the minority gender wise, especially when the topics of fashion or men came up in conversation.

The friendly atmosphere was shattered when they heard what could only be the front door being smashed in. They all raced out into the hall, seeing a blonde woman in a red satin dress smiling at them all.

"Knock, knock!" the woman said brightly, as though she hadn't just forced her way into their home.

Somehow being at the front of the group, Xander spoke first. "Who they hell are you lady?"

"My name is Glory and I was told that I could find an Alexander Harris here. I've been told me he knows where my Key is and I really want to ask him about it."

Hearing that she was after Xander, Buffy pushed in front of him. "Don't know anyone by that name, you must have the wrong house."

"Pity, I guess I'll just have to kill you all then. Oh well, never mind."

Xander and Buffy went straight on the offensive, charging at Glory but getting swatted away like flies for their trouble, Buffy crashing into the telephone table and Xander colliding into the Grandfather clock. Piper went to freeze Glory but all it did was to slow her down slightly as she stalked towards the others. Cole fired several energy balls at her, but even in her slowed state she seemed to have plenty of time to either dodge or simply block them with her hands. Prue went to use her power on Glory also, but it simply caused her to falter in her step slightly, not actually slowing her down in any way.

"Nothing is working!" Cole shouted to no one in particular.

Those that were still standing began to realise that they were outmatched, outclassed and in a world of trouble.

"I have an idea!" Leo said in way of reply.

Leo grabbed Glory by the arm and orbed away before anyone could say anything.

"Leo!" Piper screamed after her fiancé.

Before they could worry about where Leo went, Xander began to come to, as did Buffy.

"Did anyone get the number of the truck that hit me?" Xander asked a little woozily.

As Prue and Piper checked on Xander, Phoebe and Cole checked on Buffy. When Cole went to help Buffy up, pain shot through her right arm.

"Christ!" she exclaimed.

"No, I don't think that god would do that to me, seeing that I'm his gift to women," Xander quipped weakly.

Buffy laughed in spite of the pain. "At least we know he's OK."

Phoebe looked at her strangely. "What?" she asked.

"Xander's jokes are always funniest when he's got a concussion."

Xander went to glare at her but winced when he tried. "Hey! I resemble that remark!" He realised what he said and flushed slightly. "I mean I resent that remark! You alright Buff?" he asked concerned.

She nodded slightly. "I've been hit by worse."

"That doesn't answer the question."

"I'll live."

"Neither does that."

"Xander!" she shouted angrily.

Xander smiled. "That does, you never use that tone of voice when you're badly injured, as it vibrates your body too much."

The three sisters looked at each other and then at Cole. "Do we act this strange after being knocked across the room?" Prue asked.

Cole looked at them like they had all grown extra appendages. "I'm not going anywhere near _that_ conversational minefield."

Buffy was able to stand under her own power now and looked extremely pissed off. "OK where is that bitch and how hard can I kill her?"

Cole shrugged. "We have no idea, Leo grabbed her and orbed away."

Xander nodded in appreciation. "Good idea."

Piper sent her most devastating glare at him, which he completely ignored. "Are you _nuts_!" she roared.

"No, although with the amount of people that ask me you'd think so wouldn't you?" he asked rhetorically. "I'm guessing that after Buffy and I were sent into dreamland, you all had a shot at her and was as successful as us?"

They all nodded their heads. "Yeah, she took what we sent at her like it was nothing," Cole replied, obviously not liking the thought.

"Then in that case Leo did the only thing he could do, and the thing he has vowed to do."

The sisters looked at him strangely. "What?" Piper asked.

"All Whitelighters take a vow that states that if a charge is in imminent danger of dying, to take any and all measures to prevent it. Don't worry though, he'll be back."

"How can you be so sure?" she asked/demanded.

Xander smirked at Piper. "He's too afraid of you not to be."

She slapped him on the shoulder that wasn't hurt. "Hey!"

At that moment, Leo orbed back into the hall. "Is everyone… Ow!" he shouted as Piper hit him on the arm, hard.

"Don't you ever do that again!" she exclaimed.

"Whatever you say dear… Oww!" he shouted again as she hit him on the other arm.

"I mean it!"

"I can't promise not to do it again, anymore than you could promise not to do anything stupid if I were in trouble."

Knowing that he was right, but not wanting to lose the argument, she folded her arms across her chest. "That's beside the point."

"That's exactly the point."

Before they could go any further, Prue decided to interject. "Can we get back to the psycho bitch that came into our home, and nearly killed us all?" she asked.

"Sorry," Leo replied for the both of them. "I orbed her to an unpopulated island in the Pacific Ocean, she should be out of our hair for a while."

"Why not a volcano?" Xander asked.

Leo looked at Xander for a moment before responding. "I would have got singed as well, not to mention I didn't actually think of it."

"Any idea what this key she was talking about is? Or why she thought I knew where it was?" he asked the Whitelighter.

No one noticed the way Buffy was looking uncomfortable with the conversation, as if they did they would have known that she knew more about the Key than she was letting on.

"I'll have to check with the Elders about the Key, I have no idea why she thought you had any idea where it was. Come to think of it, she shouldn't even have known you were here, considering you only got here yesterday."

"Whoever gave her that information is _so_ coming off my Christmas card list," Xander groused.

**Hyperion Hotel,  
Los Angeles,  
California.**

Cordelia slammed the phone down in frustration. "I've tried Xander's place twice and he's not there." Cordelia had only been trying for a few minutes, but she had never been known to be patient.

Wesley looks at the calendar on the wall before saying anything. "It is a weekday, he might be at work."

Cordelia just looked at him for a few moments before sighing. "I didn't think of that; it's difficult thinking of Xander as a responsible adult. You're probably right, but in any case I'll try the Magic Box, he might be there. If he isn't, Giles might be able to tell us who Anya was summoning, and I'm sure he would want to know what happened to her, she is his partner in the shop after all."

She picked up the phone and dialled the Magic Box's number. After several rings, the phone is answered. "Magic Box, Rupert Giles speaking."

It had been a while since she had heard Giles' voice and a smile appeared on her face as she remembered the good parts of High School.

"Hey Giles," she said brightly.

"Cordelia," he responded with a smile in his voice, "how nice to hear from you. How are you?" he enquired.

"As can be expected, doing what we do. Is Xander there?" she asked.

"I'm afraid not," he replied, "he's currently in San Francisco with Buffy. Is there anything I can help you with?"

The reason she called went flying out of the window as she picked up on something else. "Why is he in San Francisco with Buffy? Are they going out?"

She could almost hear him pinch his nose and clean his glasses, suppressing the urge to laugh as she waited for him to answer. "Heavens no, something came up that required Xander to go there and Buffy went along for support."

She idly wondered why he would need support from Buffy when she'd never offered him any before, but finally remembered why she called. "So he's still going out with Anya then?" she asked.

"Yes he is. Please don't think me rude, but what is this about?" he asked, knowing that she wouldn't have called for no reason.

She paused for a moment trying to work out the best way to tell him. "There's no easy way for me to say this, but we found Anya in a warehouse at the city limits. It looks as though she summoned a high-level demon and didn't live to tell the tale."

She could hear a thump, she guessed from Giles slumping down in a chair. "Dear lord, she told him."

She could almost see the worry that came from Giles' voice. "Giles? She told whom what?" she asked worriedly.

"There have been some… _revelations_ regarding Xander and it appears that Anya has now placed him in serious danger," he replied vaguely.

She began to get frustrated; his explanation explained nothing at all. "You're not making a lot of sense here Giles."

"I'm sorry," he replied apologetically, "but this is not the thing that can be explained over the phone, but you do need to be made aware of recent developments, especially with what I think Anya might have done. Is there any chance that you can come here to Sunnydale?"

Giles wasn't one to worry easily, despite how they teased him over his use of 'Good Lord', and the fact he didn't want to explain things over the phone told her that it was something big. "We won't be able to leave until sundown," she replied, "but I don't see why not, things have been pretty quiet around here recently, now that Darla and Dru have been taken care of."

"Excellent, I shall see you tonight then. Wait, did you just say _Darla and Drusilla_?" he asked.

She decided to play him at his own game; she was still a little miffed with him that he hadn't told her what was going on. "I think that better be explained when we get there. I'll see you tonight Giles."

"Yes, goodbye Cordelia."

As she turned round after putting down the receiver, she noticed both Wesley and Angel looking at her. "Why did you say we would go to Sunnydale?" Angel asked.

"There's something going on with Xander and Giles says what Anya was doing is connected. He thinks we should know but didn't want to talk about it on the phone."

Instantly Angel looked worried and Cordelia could tell that it wasn't about Xander. "Is Buffy OK?" he asked.

She tried terribly hard not to roll her eyes but failed miserably, her lifelong instinct to show what she thought winning through with ease. "Yeah, she's with Xander in San Francisco."

If she didn't know better, she would have sworn his eyes flashed amber. "_Why_?" he asked/demanded.

Angel had gone into the stance normally reserved for interrogating demons without even thinking about it, and the question had a definite command in its tone.

"I have no idea," she replied, blatantly ignoring the tone he used, "although I'm sure Giles will explain it to us tonight."

Before she'd even finished her sentence, Angel had grabbed his car keys and jacket and had begun stalking, not walking, towards the hotel's underground car park.

"We're not waiting," he said to them, "my cars got tinted windows that will protect me from the sun and I'll be able to get into the Magic Box without too much trouble. Ring him back and tell him we'll be there in a couple of hours." He didn't even bother to stop walking as he talked to her.

Wesley looked between them for a moment before following Angel.

Cordelia just stood there for a moment. "What is it about the men in my life all wanting Buffy?" she asked no one in particular, sighing when nobody answered and picked up the receiver to ring Giles, again.


	10. Chapter Ten

_**Chapter Ten**_

**The Magic Box,  
Sunnydale,  
California,  
Moments After Cordelia's Second Call.**

Giles was alone in the Magic Box, as the others were either at the hospital, college or simply unwanted. He walked over to the door and locked it, turning the sign over to 'Closed' so nobody would try to come in, and finally closed the blinds on the door and windows to ensure privacy. Once he felt assured that he wouldn't be seen, Giles walked over to the counter and picked up a small glass paperweight, staring at it blankly whilst tossing it from one hand to the other.

He stayed like that for a minute or two, standing perfectly still except for the almost methodical movement of the paperweight between his hands. He began to think over all the times that one of his 'children' has had to face things no one should have to, especially not ones so young.

Every friend they'd lost, every life threatening situation they'd faced, every injury they'd received played over and over in his mind. He had tried so hard to be there for them all, but there have been times when he'd been sorely lacking in that department.

Now he had the unenviable task of telling his 'son' that his girlfriend had betrayed him to his enemy and had been killed in the process.

Suddenly, with a roar of anger, he hurled the paperweight as hard as he could against the far wall, watching in satisfaction as it shattered into pieces. He watched as the pieces fell and scattered along the floor, and he continued to watch them for several minutes after they have stopped moving, still caught in a maelstrom of memories and regrets.

Finally his shoulders slumped and he sighed, allowing the emotions to flow out of him and the control back in. He took a few more calming breaths before walking over to the cupboard and collecting the dustpan and brush, going over to the remains of the paperweight and carefully kneeling down to sweep them up.

Once he'd checked to ensure there were no shards of glass remaining on the floor, he took the dustpan and brush over to the counter, and placed them on it almost dead centre. He took a seat next to the telephone and dialled the number he'd committed to memory the moment it had been given to him.

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

The majority of the debris caused by their most recent run in with the supernatural had been picked up, and they had done a rush job on the door so it would be reasonably presentable from the outside.

Prue had just picked up the phone, which had somehow remained intact once again, and replaced the receiver when it started to ring. Startled by the sound, she almost dropped the phone again, but managed to regain her composure in time and picked up the receiver.

"Halliwell residence, Prue speaking."

"Ah, hello, my name is Rupert Giles."

"Mr. Giles," she said pleasantly, "nice to put a voice to the name."

"Please call me Giles," he told her warmly, pleased to have been received so well, "everybody does. I was hoping that Xander was there," he enquired.

"Yes he is," she replied, "but he's a little busy at the moment, we had an unwanted house guest that tried to remodel the house."

Prue could hear him shift slightly in his chair. "Is everybody alright?" he asked.

She appreciated the fact that Giles had asked about everybody and not just Xander and Buffy. "We're all fine, a bit banged up but nothing that Leo can't fix."

She heard him sigh in relief at the news, and then returned to why he'd called. "That's good to hear. I hate to be a nuisance, but it really is important that I speak with Xander."

"Alright I'll get him for you." Prue put her hand over the mouthpiece and turned to Xander. "Xander, Giles is on the phone for you, he says that it is important."

"OK I better speak to him, Giles doesn't say things like that for no reason." He took the phone and receiver from Prue with a smile and she went to help the others with the door, her power coming in useful in that regard. "Hey Giles, what's up?" he asked.

"Xander, I'm afraid that I have some bad news," he responded, not knowing any other way of saying it.

Xander immediately sobered up at Giles' tone, realising that whatever he was about to be told was not of the good. "What is it?" he asked.

It was at this point that Giles realised he hadn't actually worked out how to tell Xander the news. Realising that beating around the bush would only annoy him; he decided to get straight to the point. "I'm afraid that Anya is dead."

It took a moment for Xander to take in what Giles had said, his legs collapsing under him once he had. Buffy noticed and rushed straight over to him, her concern for him clearly visible for all to see. The others stayed back, feeling unsure what to do and slightly uncomfortable witnessing the scene before them.

"Xander, what's wrong?" she asked him in a panicked voice. Xander just sat there, a vacant look on his face. Buffy gently took the receiver from him. "Giles, what's going on?"

"Buffy? Is Xander alright?" he asked.

Buffy rolled her eyes and then remembered he couldn't see her. "Would I be talking to you if he _were_? What's going on?" she asked again.

Giles was too worried about Xander to sugarcoat things. "Anya is dead."

She gasped in surprise; she was definitely not expecting that. "How?" she asked quietly.

"It seems that she went to LA to cast a summoning spell, most likely to speak to the Source. We have to assume that the Source now knows about Xander and killed Anya once she had told him everything she knew. Now he's aware of Xander, he will most probably come after him."

Buffy quickly put two and two together. "He already has in a way."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

She knew that the others were listening in and needed to be careful about what she said. "Someone came bursting in, asking to talk to Xander as they were told he knew where the Key is."

Giles could hear the deliberate way she had worded that, and realised that she wasn't in a position to say too much out loud. "Glory?" he guessed.

"Yes," she confirmed. "She took everything we had without breaking stride, we would not be having this conversation right now if Leo hadn't saved our asses by orbing her to an island."

"I take it you haven't said anything."

"No, and I hope I won't have to."

"Is that wise?" he asked. "I wasn't comfortable with keeping it from Xander before, now he is being directly targeted…" he trailed off, hoping that he'd made his point without saying more.

Buffy closed her eyes as the realisation of what was going on hit her and was surprised by the strength of the feeling it invoked. "I know Giles, I'm having second thoughts as well but now is not the time. I can't talk any longer, Xander's starting to move." Buffy put the receiver down before Giles had a chance to respond and placed the phone down on the floor.

She looked at Xander and her heart broke; she knew that he cared for Anya a lot, but the look on his face told her that his feelings went deeper than she thought. Without really thinking about it, she gently moved his hair away from his face, and began to gently stroke his cheek with her thumb. When Xander's eyes locked with hers, she moved her hand away like she had just burnt it. "Xander?"

"Please tell me I was hallucinating and Giles didn't tell me that Anya was dead," he all but pleaded.

She had a sudden urge to cry at the tone in his voice but suppressed it, knowing that she needed to be strong for him at the moment, the way he had been for her so many times. "I wish I could," she replied, and then winced, as she knew how he got when that word was said around him.

Xander had always been worried that some of Anya's old vengeance demon buddies were watching him like a hawk, hoping that he'd say the 'W' word and make his life hell, so he had tried to remove that word from his vocabulary and they had done the same, knowing that his fears might not have been unfounded.

Xander nodded in acceptance, not really hearing everything she'd said, but getting the gist of it. He didn't really think he had been hallucinating, but there was a little part of him that had hoped nonetheless. He noticed that the phone was on the floor, the receiver in place, and realised that he must have zoned out for a while.

"How long was I out?" he asked.

"Not long, a minute or two at most."

Again he just nodded in acceptance; he really had no idea, but he guessed Buffy wouldn't lie about it. "Did Giles tell you how it happened?"

Buffy hesitated, knowing that Xander won't like the answer. "Yeah…"

Xander knew there had to be something bad for her to hesitate, but he wanted, no he needed to know. "What Buffy?" he asked firmly.

She knew that she couldn't keep it from him; he had to know the truth. Thinking that made her reconsider other things as well, but this was neither the time nor the place. "He wasn't 100 sure on this, but it looks like she went to LA and summoned the Source to tell him about you. Once she told him everything he killed her."

Xander started to shake with rage, scaring Buffy more than a little as she had never seen him so intensely angry before. "I'm gonna _kill_ him! I'm gonna kill him and I'm gonna make it _hurt_!"

He went to get up, but she stopped him by hugging him, holding firm as he struggled to break free. She knew that if she let go now, he'd go straight after the Source and, without training and clouded by anger, he'd be signing his own death warrant.

"Xander, please calm down," she begged.

He continued to struggle, trying to break free, but found it predictably impossible despite using his enhanced strength. "_Calm down_!?" he screamed. "That bastard has killed my girlfriend, for no other reason than because she was no longer any use to him and you want me to calm down!?"

"This isn't going to help Xander, you're not ready to face him yet and Anya wouldn't want you to take stupid risks," she said soothingly.

The anger subsided and gave way to grief; Xander collapsed into her arms and began to sob into her shoulder.

"You know what? I couldn't care less. I was still a little unsure that I wanted to do all this before, but now I won't be able to rest until his lifeless body is resting at my feet."

Buffy pulled back slightly to look at him; she had seen the look currently in Xander's eyes before, it was the look he got when he'd made a decision and nothing and no one would divert him from it. "I know that I can't get you to change your mind, and to be perfectly honest I'm not sure that I want to. What I do want though is to be here with you to help in whatever way I can and when you're ready, we'll get the Source for what he's done."

She took his hand in hers and helped him up off of the floor. "I wouldn't want it any other way Buff. Thanks for talking me down, I couldn't see past finding him and snapping him like a twig."

"Hey, that's what friends are for."

**Magic Box,  
Sunnydale,  
California,  
Several Hours Later.**

Giles had just finished explaining everything that had been going on to Angel and the others and was now waiting for it all to sink in. If he were completely honest with himself, he didn't really care what they thought; they needed to know what was going on, but they had no real say in what was to be done.

Having time to think about the people sat at the table with him, he began with Angel. Although Giles had come to terms with a lot of things, he still had a problem with Angel not being a pile of ash. He knew that it was Angelus and not Angel that had killed Jenny and nearly killed his 'children' at one time or another, but he also knew that Angelus was still alive and sitting across the table from him, only subdued.

He was aware that Angel was in control, but he was also aware that Angelus was still there and could come back again, the clause in the soul curse still as active as ever. To think that Angel would never achieve a moment of perfect happiness, when it had already happened once, would be foolish in the extreme. It may not happen in Giles' lifetime, but it would happen, and one of the most feared vampires in recorded history would once again be unleashed upon the world.

Giles also had a few problems with Angel as well, the first being that he should have known from the beginning that a relationship with Buffy would not work, however much he wanted it to. Forgetting the obvious reason that he is a vampire, when he met her she was only sixteen years old and he was in his mid-twenties, or at least that was the age he was when he had been turned. He was simply too old for her, however you did the math, and as such should have known better than to try anything with a young and impressionable girl.

Their relationship had also set a deadly precedent for Buffy, that not all vampires were evil, and he knew that it was for that reason that Spike was also still alive instead of blowing in the wind. Because she was able to see some semblance of humanity in them, she stayed her hand when as a Slayer she should fulfil her calling and destroy them.

When Angel came back from hell, he should have left as soon as he was mentally able to but he didn't, but instead he started the relationship up once again. That was of course as much Buffy's fault as it was the vampire's, but despite that Angel had no excuse about not knowing about his curse this time around; he knew what could happen being with Buffy and yet he did it anyway. The main problem was that at the end of the day, there was nothing Giles could do about it now and he simply had to deal with it.

Next he turned his attentions to Wesley. Forgetting the completely appalling way he acted during his short time in Sunnydale, Giles' one time colleague was actually an accomplished tactician with a very shrewd mind who had the capacity to do what was necessary. His main problem had been that, until recently, he'd had the self-esteem of an amoeba.

When Wesley had first arrived in Sunnydale, Giles had contacted a few people in the Council, the few that would still speak to him after his removal as Buffy's Watcher, and had been told that Wesley had been top of his class throughout his training at the Academy, something that had made him feel a little easier. That ease had vanished completely when he'd been told that Wesley had only graduated only a few weeks before being assigned to Buffy and Faith.

He had instantly known why the young man had assigned to Buffy and Faith; Travers had wanted new Slayers and knew that, with a totally green Watcher helping them, that would happen sooner rather than later. Travers taken into account the fact that neither Buffy nor Faith would actually listen to a word Wesley said; his inability to take charge of a situation and inexperience of how the world really worked made it impossible for them to think of him as anything but inept. If he had been then what he was now things could have turned out very differently.

Finally his thoughts went to Cordelia, who was the only one of the three that he actually cared about. The young woman had pleasantly surprised him; although he'd known she could be so much more than what she'd portrayed herself to be during High School, he never thought that she would willingly stay in the fight the way she had done. In fact, at the end of her time in Sunnydale, Cordelia had said in no uncertain terms that she wanted to live a normal life, and facing death almost every night was anything but normal.

As with all things, life didn't always turn out as expected, and she had realised that the supernatural was not unique to the Hellmouth. Knowing that she could never be truly safe, she decided to be pro-active and fight back. Although the choice had been taken away from her slightly when she had 'inherited' her visions from their late friend Doyle, she has now committed herself to the fight, and Giles couldn't be more proud of how she has turned out.

She had always been a confident person, but that confidence had increased ten-fold since moving to LA. She had finally found something rewarding to be a part of and had earned the respect of her friends, instead of just expecting it to be given freely.

Wesley cleared his throat and disrupted Giles from his musings. "We are talking about the same Xander Harris aren't we?" he asked. "I know it's been a couple of years since I have seen him, but I doubt that there would have been _that_ much of a change."

Although Wesley hadn't voiced them, everyone could tell what he thought of Xander Harris, and it wasn't that of a legendary fighter. In the few months that Wesley had been in Sunnydale, he'd only had the most minimal of dealings with Xander, and had thought him to be an annoying and meddlesome teenager, who acted recklessly without any thought to others and had no skills to offer the group apart from being the gopher. It didn't help that he had been infatuated with Cordelia, who Xander had been trying to reconcile with, and therefore was seen by Wesley as a challenger for her affections.

Wesley's opinion of Xander had changed during their planning on how to kill the mayor, as Xander had shown he could be serious when the need arose, and even planned out and executed a most effective strategy to deal with the vampires they knew the mayor would have allied with. Even with all of that, however, he still didn't consider Xander as anything more than an average fighter.

"That's exactly what I said mate," Spike said as he came in from the back room, throwing the blanket he had used to hide from the sun across the room where it landed on top of a small display case.

Following him was Riley, who had decided to try and persuade Giles to speak to Buffy on his behalf regarding their relationship, fearing dismemberment if he talked to her himself.

"Spike," Angel growled. He had been informed that Spike was working with Buffy and the others, but he had always hoped that they were playing some sort of joke on him. He knew about the chip, but also knew that someone as conniving as Spike could and would find a way around it eventually. He ignored the irony that Angelus was as conniving if not more.

"Peaches, you here to talk about Droopy? I don't see the point, he'll probably trip on his shoelaces and fall down the stairs, breaking his scrawny neck and doing us all a favour." Spike started to laugh at what he considered a joke, but stopped abruptly when Cordelia slapped him in the face. "Hey, it's not fair to hit the defenceless you stupid bint," he growled.

"I swear, if I hear one more sound coming from you, I'll pour a vial of holy water over your balls." Spike's usually cocky exterior crumbled at the thought of that, so after a moment's hesitation he nodded once in recognition of the threat and sat down in the chair farthest from her. "Xander and I have had our problems," Cordelia continued, "and there have been times when we have both said things to each other that we regretted later, but first and foremost he is my friend. You ever speak like that about him, or any of my friends, like that again and you'll wish you'd been staked the moment you were turned. Do you understand me?" Once again Spike just nodded. He had seen the look in Cordelia's eyes several time with Dru, and he knew that doing anything but agree would cost him his life, if he were lucky. "Oh and by the way Spike," she added, "your roots are showing something chronic."

Spike went running to the nearest mirror to check and screamed when he remembered he didn't have a reflection.

Angel suppressed the urge to laugh at his Grandchilde and turned to Giles. "Cordy brings up a good point Giles, why isn't he dust yet?" he asked.

Giles managed to stop himself from asking the same about him and got to the topic at hand. "Because, although I am loathed to admit it, he has been helpful on occasion. That and Buffy has decided not to for some unknown reason. I do have to say that the moment Buffy changes her mind, I will be second in line to do the honours, after Xander of course."

Spike had regained a bit of his swagger when Giles had mentioned his exemption to staking Buffy had bestowed on him, so he got up and walked over to Angel. "You see Peaches, Buffy likes having me around and until that changes, something that isn't going to happen any time soon, I'm off limits. You should keep the Junior Tweed over there around," he continued, nodding towards Wesley, "he knows what he's talking about. Droopy is as useful as a spoon in a gunfight."

Angel surprised Spike by striking him with an uppercut to his chin, which sent him flying across the table, landing next to where Riley was currently sitting. "Shut up Spike! I don't think I will ever like Xander and I know that the feeling is mutual. We can barely stand to be in the same _room_ together, but I know that he is capable of doing anything he sets his mind to. He has earned my respect, especially during my second stint as Angelus. I have no trouble in believing what Giles has told us, you constantly going on about how useless he is simply gives me more proof."

"What do you mean by that you Irish wanker?" Spike asked his grandsire.

Angel answered Spike's question, but didn't direct to him. "I mean that Spike has a habit of putting down people he is threatened by, especially if they're male."

Riley looked a little puzzled by that. "He hasn't done that with _me._" He noted.

Angel sent a feral smile at the current beau of his beloved Buffy. "I said he does it to people he's _threatened_ by."

"What did you mean that Xander earned your respect during the time you lost your soul?" Giles asked.

"Did you never wonder why Angelus never went back to finish the job when Buffy was in hospital with flu?" he asked in reply.

Giles' look darkened instantly; distinguishing between Angel and Angelus wasn't easy when he spoke like that. "I surmised that you hadn't had enough fun in tormenting her to kill her yet." The venom in Giles' voice spoke volumes about his feelings concerning that time.

"The games were fun but he was never someone to waste an opportunity. He went to the hospital, either to kill or turn her, he hadn't decided. When he got to her room Xander was there waiting for him. He just smiled at him; he had no stake or cross to help him. He told him to leave, to which Angelus said he could just kill him and do what he came for. He thought that Xander would turn tail and run with the amount of fear that had been coming off him in waves, but instead he practically _demanded_ that he try. When Angelus looked in his eyes, he could see that Xander was prepared to die to protect her. He could also see that Xander would find a way to take him with him, even if it meant dragging him outside, holding him down and waiting for the sun to rise. Not wanting to run the risk he backed off, shoving the flowers he was going to leave beside her dead body in Xander's hands, telling him to say hi for him when she woke up."

Riley just snorted dismissively. "So he backed down a vampire, big deal!"

Giles groaned at Riley's idiocy and momentarily lost control of his tongue. "I'll forgive your ignorance as you've obviously got a straight line for a family tree. Angelus is one of the most feared vampires in recorded history, second only to the Master."

Spike looked affronted by that. "Hey! Don't forget the Big Bad!"

"I wasn't."

Cordelia laughed at Giles' remark before speaking. "OK, I understand why you didn't want tot talk about this over the phone, I doubt I would have believed you if you had. What I don't understand is why you reacted the way you did when I explained that Anya had performed a summoning ceremony before she died?"

Riley turns to her with a shocked expression. "Wait, Anya is dead?" he asked.

Cordelia looked sad for a moment. "Yeah, that's why I phoned Giles in the first place." She turned her attention back to Giles. "Who do you think Anya talked to?" she asked.

"The Source. Anya had been in a relationship with him before she lost her powers and it seems she was still in love with him. I didn't say this in front of Xander but I think that one of the reasons she was so… forward in starting a relationship with him was to ensure he never found out about his unique status."

Cordelia looked at him incredulously. "So you're saying that as soon as Xander found out, she went running to tell her old boyfriend? What did she think would happen, they would call a truce and live happily ever after?"

"When love is involved, logical thinking normally comes second in a persons mind."

Cordelia just nodded, having no argument against that statement. "I didn't ask before but how did Xander take the news?"

Giles looked sharply at her. "How would _you_ take it? I think it's a good thing that Buffy is there with him for support, I doubt he would handle it half as well on his own."

Angel saw that as the perfect opportunity to ask the question that had been plaguing him since the left LA. "Why _is_ Buffy there with Xander?"

Giles could here a hint of jealousy in Angel's voice, and ignored the impulse to make it sound that there was something going on between them. "Although Xander is unable to be harmed by mystical means, he is still susceptible to physical harm. Letting him go alone to a strange city with someone he doesn't know, even if he is more than capable of handling himself, would have been an unwise course of action."

Cordelia rolled here eyes, able to hear bullshit a mile away. "In other words, after you all realised that Xander had been telling you the truth, Buffy felt guilty and decided to make it up to him by going along."

"I never said we didn't believe him," Giles responded flustered.

"You didn't have to, I know how you all think. If it had been anybody else you would have just taken them at their word, but with Xander you've never been able to just trust him or his judgement." Seeing the slightly guilty look from Giles, Cordelia felt her work was done so she changed the subject. "While I was here I thought I would go and see Joyce in the hospital."

"She's not there anymore, she checked herself out this morning."

"Why?" she asked, worried that she might have taken a turn for the worse and decided to live her remaining days at home.

"There's nothing wrong with her anymore," he said with a smile, "someone Xander met over in San Francisco came over and healed her, so she is now in perfect health."

Everyone smiled at that, even Spike, although he quickly covered it.

"That's great news," Cordelia said, a wide beaming smile on her face, "I'll go over to her house and see her. It'll be nice to see Dawn again too; she was the only one who appreciated my fashion tips."

Giles smiled at that, but not for the reason they thought. One of the worries he'd had was that Angel and the others would be unaware of Dawn's existence, which was why they hadn't contacted them to help with the Glory situation.

"I'm sure they would both be happy to see you as well."


	11. Chapter Eleven

_**Chapter Eleven**_

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Xander and Leo were on the front porch of the manor, waving off the workman that had just finished replacing the damaged door and frame caused by Glory's visit earlier in the day. The company Xander worked for had an office in San Francisco, and he had been able to get a crew over quickly, getting a good deal for them as well.

"Thanks for contacting your company Xander," Leo said to him, "I normally fix whatever gets broken during a fight with a demon, but what this Glory did is out of my league."

Xander smiled in appreciation for the gratitude. "Not a problem, I said I would look in on the site we have here for them as part of the arrangement for my time off so I killed two birds with one stone. I've used the family emergency excuse too many times for it to wash, liaising with the crew here made it more like a business trip."

"You were only there for half an hour," he pointed out.

"That was all I needed. I cut out the bullshit they get from the suits and asked them what needed to be asked and they told me what I needed to be told. I'll file the report the way the suits want it and everybody will be happy."

"You certainly have a _unique_ perspective on life."

"I've been fighting demons since I was _sixteen_," Xander said with a small smile, "having a unique perspective comes with the job. Anyway sorting all that out allowed me to keep my mind off other things."

Realising that he hadn't had a chance to talk to Xander about Anya yet, Leo used this as the perfect opportunity. "I know that this is a really stupid question, but how are you coping?"

Xander's smile remained, but it changed to one born of sadness. "Probably better than I should. Once the initial shock and anger wore off and I was able to think more clearly, I should have seen something like this coming. As soon as Cole explained about Anya's relationship with the Source, I had a suspicion that she would try to warn him. I can't even blame her for it; she loved him and didn't want to see him hurt. She knew how I would react and that she wouldn't be able to stop me, so she did the only thing that she could do. I don't like the fact she betrayed me, but I can understand it."

Leo can't help but goggle at him, as the fact that he could forgive her what she did, so soon after finding out, was more than unexpected. "You never cease to amaze me."

Xander just shrugged. "I've had experience on what people will do when they're in love. I once forced a vampire known as the Scourge of Europe take me to the lair of a vampire ten times worse, all because the girl I loved was prophesised to die by its hand. I had no idea what I was going to do but I knew I had to do something. Luckily for everyone, it turned out all right in the end. That same friend a year later allowed the same vampire I forced to help me to live, knowing that he was going to kill and probably turn innocents, because she loved him and wanted to find a way to get him back to the way he was. The man I consider to be a father went into a warehouse filled with vampires, to stake the one that had killed his girlfriend, even though he knew he probably wouldn't survive the attack. So as I said, I can understand what Anya did, I might well have done the same thing myself. One thing I don't understand and will never forgive is the Source killing her, for that I'm going to make him pay." Needing to change topics, Xander decided to ask Leo about the other problem they have. "Have you worked out who that bitch was yet?"

"No, I asked the Elders and they said she must either be a wild card or part of Buffy's fight."

Xander glared at him for a moment. "It's my fight too, that will _never_ change."

Leo took a slight step back and raised his hands slightly. "I know that, but if this thing with the Source is long term, as it could well be, there may come a time where you will _have_ to choose which one is more important."

Xander sighed in frustration and began to pace back and forth on the front porch. "I worked that out the moment I found out there was more than one war to fight. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not going to think about it until I absolutely have to; I don't need that sort of guilt hanging over me just yet."

Leo looked at him strangely. "What do you mean guilt?" he asked.

Xander stopped pacing and looked Leo straight in the eye. "Come on Leo you're not _that_ naïve surely. If and when the time comes that I have to choose, I'll be turning my back on people I vowed to help no matter _what_ I decide. That decision will be the hardest one I will _ever_ have to make."

"Aren't you being a little hard on yourself?"

"No."

Leo knew that was the end of it; there would be no way that he, or anybody else, could help ease the guilt that Xander would experience if he ever had to make that choice. At that moment he didn't see 'The One Who Sees', he saw a twenty-year-old man with way too much responsibility.

Once again Xander changed the subject. "What did you mean by 'wild card'?" he asked.

"Think of them as free agents," Leo explained, "they have no ties to any party of any war. They have their own agendas and are left to their own devices unless their actions will adversely effect one side or the other."

Xander flopped down on the front steps. "That's just great, not only do I get caught up in not one but _two_ wars, but I have to deal with _freelancers_ as well? I must have _really_ pissed some people off in a previous life."

"I wish that…"

Xander cut him off. "_Never_ use that word around me Leo, for all our sakes."

"I'm sorry, I forgot." Leo got a distant look for a moment. "Sorry to cut and run but the Elders are calling. Want to come along?" he offered.

Xander shook his head. "I'm not ready for that yet, but leave the invite open as I will take you up on it one day."

"Will do." Leo then orbed away.

**The Elders domain,  
Elsewhere.**

Leo orbed into a large white room, facing seven large marble podiums. A figure adorning golden robes materialised on each one after a few moments.

Leo bowed in respect before speaking. "You called for me Elders?"

The figure that stood on the middle podium responded. "Yes Leo, we have found out some information concerning Glory. It appears that she is indeed a wild card. She is a hell god that was banished from her home dimension and is searching for a way back. The only way available to her is to use the Key, a very powerful mystical entity that can open a portal to other dimensions. The problem is that to open the portal to Glory's dimension, the Key must open all portals, everywhere. The drain on the Key's energy will make it impossible to close them afterwards and the other dimensions will merge with our own, making the Earth a virtual hell planet. We have also found out that it was the Source that informed Glory about 'The One Who Sees' location, and the false assumption that he knew the whereabouts of the Key."

"Do you know where the Key is?" he asked.

This time, the figure who stood on the far left podium spoke. "Up until six months ago, yes. We had been keeping the order of monks charged with its protection under surveillance, in the event that if Glory ever found them, we would take possession of the Key. Six months ago she did indeed find them but, before we could intervene and retrieve the Key, the monks performed a very powerful spell and the Key disappeared. The whereabouts of the Key is now unknown, but we have learned that the spell the monks performed gave the Key flesh. The Key is now in human form and vulnerable to attack."

Things started to fall into place for Leo, but he did not voice his deductions to the Elders. "Do you know of a way that we can defeat her?" he asked, knowing that they would see her again.

This questioned was answered by the figure standing on the far right podium. "I am afraid that only a being of equivalent power would be able to stop her. At the moment there are only two beings that meet the requirements, but they are both on the side of evil. Of those two, only one of them is allowed to take corporeal form on Earth, and that is the Source. Although he would most likely win in an altercation with Glory, the Source would never do so willingly, as he would deem the risk too great. We suggest that until another avenue is found that you try to avoid another confrontation with Glory, unless absolutely necessary."

Taking that as his cue to leave, Leo bowed once more. "Thank you Elders for the information, I will relay it to the others at once."

"Be well Leo."

"And you Elders," and with that Leo orbed back to the manor.

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Leo orbed into the living room, finding the sisters and Cole all sitting round chatting. Two people were missing however, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing considering what he was about to say. "Where are Buffy and Xander?" he asked.

Piper smiled at him and he looked sheepish at not saying hello before asking the question. "You just missed them, they decided to go for a walk. You have been gone over an hour you know. I think Buffy is still worried about how Xander is taking everything and thought a change of scenery might help."

That actually worked out rather well in Leo's opinion. "That's good, I didn't really want to talk about this in front of them."

Everyone turned to look at him, a questioning look in all of their eyes. "What is it, have you found out anything about Glory?" Piper asked.

Leo nodded before speaking. He decided to make it as brief as possible. "Glory is a hell god, banished from her home dimension. She needs the Key that she was talking about to get home. If she uses the Key to open a portal home, all portals will open and stay open, merging the other dimensions with our own, which is something we do _not_ want to happen unless being on the bottom of the food chain is something you'd like to happen."

They're silent a few moments to take that all in, Phoebe being the first to come out of it. "That explains why she wants the Key, why did she think Xander knows where it is?" she asked.

"The Source told her, probably hoping that she would kill him and us for him, or that we would find some way to kill her. He doesn't want her to use the Key anymore than we do, so he would see it as a win-win situation."

None of them wanted to ask the question they all knew had to be asked, Cole being the one finally able to do so. "Does Xander know where the Key is?"

Leo shook his head. "I don't believe so, but I think Buffy does."

Prue decided to take this one. "How would Buffy know?"

Leo knew that this bit of information would come as a shock. "Because Buffy's sister is the Key."

He was right; everyone looked at him wide eyed. Cole, being the most experienced at hearing the unexpected, recovered first. "What?"

"When I went to Sunnydale to help Buffy's mother, I met her sister Dawn and was nearly overwhelmed by the power signature she has. I didn't say anything, as it didn't seem that important at the time."

"Then how do you know she's the Key?" he asked.

"The Elders told me that the ones that were protecting the Key performed a spell to give it human form, as Glory had found out where they were and was attempting to gain entry. They wouldn't leave the Key unprotected, so they needed to send it to someone to keep it safe from Glory. I'm not certain on how they did it but I think they sent Dawn to be protected by Buffy, altering everybody's memories so they believed that she was her sister."

Piper started to put the pieces together. "That's why Joyce got ill; the spell had an adverse effect on her, probably due to the fact that she would need more memories than anyone else. If Buffy wasn't the slayer she may well have had a similar problem."

"That would be my guess," Leo responded. "Giles knows about it as well, when I mentioned that the magic affecting Joyce was linked to memories of Dawn, he was very quick to dismiss it as a coincidence."

A puzzled expression appears on Prue's face. "Why do you think Xander doesn't know?"

"No idea, but I'm going to fucking find out."

Everyone turned to see a very angry looking Xander standing in the doorway.


	12. Chapter Twelve

_**Chapter Twelve**_

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

They could all see the anger coming off of Xander in waves and started to look worried about what he would do. Both Cole and Leo had explained that Xander had quite a temper on him, able to quite effectively frighten the pair of them. None of the sisters wanted that sort of attention aimed at them, especially coming from someone they couldn't affect with their powers.

Prue, being the oldest, decided to be the one who would try and calm him down. "Xander…"

Xander could see that they thought his anger was directed at them, so he eased their worries by smiling one of his patented lop-sided smiles. "Don't worry, I'm not angry at you."

They all breathed a sigh of relief at that, but remained worried nonetheless, this time for him.

"How long were you standing there?" Leo asked.

Xander started to move around the room and could feel their eyes follow him as he walked. "Long enough," he replied with forced casualness, "I realised I left my wallet on the counter and came back for it."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Prue asked.

He just gave them all a look. "Would you have continued the conversation if I had?" he asked in reply.

Knowing that he had them on that one, they all shook their heads. "Probably not," Leo conceded. "What are you going to do?" he asked.

"I think I need to have a _word_ with Buffy."

They could all hear the silent rage within him, just praying to be let out. "Xander…" Leo began, but drifted off as he saw the look Xander threw his way.

Once again the young man could tell what they were thinking, but this time he looked at them as though they had just accused him of one of the worst crimes imaginable. "I give you my word I won't do anything foolish. I could _never_ hurt Buffy; I would rather _die_ first." His face changed to one of sadness. "It's a shame that doesn't work both ways."

He then turned and left the room, walking towards the door and Buffy.

**Outside Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Buffy saw Xander coming out of the manor and smiled slightly at him. "You found your wallet?" she asked.

"Yeah. You know, I just heard the strangest conversation inside."

"Really?" she asked, confused by the tone in his voice.

"Uh huh, it seems that when Leo went to heal Joyce at the hospital, he met the Key. The really strange thing was he said that it was Dawn."

Her eyes went wide at the tone he was using, one that told her in no uncertain terms he was well aware that she knew about Dawn. Her world started crashing down around her when she saw the look in his eyes; they were filled with pure, unadulterated rage and hurt.

"Xan…"

He cut her off before she could say anything. "Now I know that, if you'd known that Dawn was the Key, you would have told me, seeing as I'm one of your closest friends and all."

"Xan…"

Again he cut her off before she was able to say anything more than a syllable. "I'm guessing Giles knows already, not much gets past him, but who else knows?" he asked.

"…"

Her silence told him everything he needed to know; suddenly the feelings of hurt and anger threatened to overwhelm him. "Ah, I get it, I'm the only one who _didn't_ know."

"It's not like that," she protested weakly, too stunned by how quickly events had turned to mount up much of a defence.

He glared at her and she took an involuntary step back; she had never seen him this angry with her since Willow was kidnapped by vampires years ago; the day he threatened to kill her if Willow was hurt.

"Not like what?" he asked angrily, finding it harder and harder to maintain his composure. "As I said, nothing gets past Giles so I can understand why he knows. I can understand you telling Willow first, she's your best friend. Willow would have naturally told Tara, as they don't keep things from each other. I can even see you telling Riley first, being your boyfriend and all. But _SPIKE!_" She took another step back as he practically screamed at her. "You trust _it_ more than _me_!"

She started to tremble slightly, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. "Please try to understand…"

Once again Xander cut her off, not wanting to hear her excuses. "Tell me Buffy, what is there to understand? A vampire, sans soul, that's only around because it can't hurt humans, at the moment I hasten to add, is more trustworthy than someone who has been by your side since day one and saved your life more times than you can count!"

She could see that he was barely keeping control of his anger. "Please…"

He just put his hand up and she stopped speaking. "There's nothing you can do or say that can fix this Buffy." She gasped when she saw his face change from one of anger and hurt to one that would look right at home on a statue. "Go home."

She finally began to cry when she heard the emotionless tone in his voice, realising that he was right; there was nothing she could do to change things. Then the words hit her and she looked completely shocked.

"What?" she asked in a small voice.

"Go home. Go back to Sunnydale and the people and _things_ you can trust."

She risked taking a step towards him. "I trust you…"

He snorted at her, cutting off whatever she was going to say. "You trust me to get donuts and be the comic relief; a chimp can do that. I'll arrange for someone to come and collect my things and break my lease. There's a transfer available with my company here and I'm going to take it."

Buffy felt as though she'd just been stabbed in the gut with a rusty blade. "You're leaving us?"

He gave her a sharp look. "I'm leaving _Sunnydale_. You've just proven to me that there's nothing to keep me there anymore. Goodbye Buffy, stay safe."

He turned and went to walk back into the manor, Buffy quickly following behind him. He could see that the others had gathered at the door, probably having heard the commotion that they were causing.

"You can't mean this!" she screamed.

He kept walking, not bothering to turn to face her. "Goodbye Buffy."

She grabbed him by the arm and spun him round to face her. "I'm not leaving until you listen to reason," she stated firmly.

He simply sighed and turned to face the others. "Leo!" he called.

Hearing his name, Leo went over to them. "Yes Xander?" he asked.

"Could you take Buffy to collect her things from the motel and then take her home please?" he asked softly.

Leo could see the inner turmoil Xander was going through, no matter how hidden the young man thought it was. He knew that he and Buffy needed to talk so he tried to put Xander off. "You know I can't go on the Hellmouth," he pointed out.

"If not her house, the hospital or the town limits, I don't really care."

Buffy made him turn to face her again. "Please Xander, don't do this."

Leo decided to take a different tack. "What's going on Xander?" he asked.

"They all knew Dawn was the Key; they trusted a _vampire_ with the information but they didn't trust me."

Leo could hear the deep-seated hurt in Xander's voice. Leo could understand why he felt that way; the Whitelighter could only imagine how he would feel in the same situation.

"We haven't known long!" she shouted angrily, her need to fight back causing her to only make things worse.

Anger flashed across his face momentarily. "Long enough to confide in Spike!"

Buffy was crying uncontrollably now, realising the futility of the situation. "Xan…"

Xander ignored her and turned to face Leo once more. "Leo, please?"

Realising that there was nothing he could do to help, he reluctantly nodded in acceptance. "OK. I'm sorry Buffy."

Before she had a chance to argue, he grabbed her hand and orbed them away.

"I guess the choice was made for me," Xander said to nobody in particular before he slowly made his way back into the manor.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

_**Chapter Thirteen**_

**Buffy's Motel Room,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Buffy and Leo arrived in her motel room, and Buffy was still screaming at the top of her lungs. "Take me back!"

Leo considered it, thinking that they really did need to talk, but eventually shook his head. "I'm sorry Buffy but I can't."

She wrenched her hand from his and assumed her 'I'm the slayer, do as I say' pose. "You are going to take me back; I need to talk to him and explain."

Leo studied her for a moment. He could see that she was used to getting her own way, using the pose she was in at the moment to help. He could also see that she wasn't thinking clearly, instead simply reacting to the situation. He knew that, at the moment, all she would do if he did take her back would be to make things even worse than they were already, if that were possible.

He realised that he needed to get her thinking about what she was going to do, before she went and did it. "If I took you back now, what would you say that was different to what you'd already said?"

"…"

He could see that she really didn't know what else she could say at the moment and her shoulders slumped in defeat. He could tell that she desperately wanted to rectify what had happened, and about how she had treated him, and for that he sympathised with her.

The fact that she was so cut up over the whole situation was definitely a good sign that her actions hadn't been taken out of malice, which gave him hope that they might yet reconcile once the dust had settled.

That time, however, was most definitely not now.

"Until you know what needs to be said, you'll only make it worse," he consoled her.

She nodded, finally allowing herself to think about everything. Realising that her only choice at the moment was to go home, she slowly began moving round the room to gather her things.

"He hates me doesn't he?" she asked in a shaky voice.

He could hear the pain the question gave her, and the fear that it might be true. "Whatever you may think at the moment, Xander just isn't physically capable of hating you Buffy, but to be honest with you, I doubt that he likes you at the moment either. I haven't known him long, but I can tell how low his self-esteem is. To find out that his friends trust an enemy more than they do him must be his worst nightmare."

She shook her head violently in disagreement. "That wasn't how it was."

He could tell that she believes that, but he didn't think she'd ever actually thought about why she'd done it in the first place.

"I don't know whether that's true or not, and at the end of the day it doesn't matter. At the moment all that matters is that _he_ thinks it was. The fact you didn't tell him, even after Glory had been sent after him, ironically because she thought he _did_ know where the Key was, has probably made it worse."

"Why?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"Because he not only sees it as you not trusting him, but that you also don't mind if he gets hurt because of it. Buffy, if I hadn't been there to orb her away, Glory would have probably killed us and taken Xander away to torture him for information he didn't have." Strictly speaking Leo couldn't die, given that he'd already been dead almost sixty years, but Glory _was_ a goddess so anything was possible.

Buffy had thought that they had been lucky, but having it said aloud made it truly hit home. She then started to understand the extent of the damage she had caused, realising that Leo was right. Xander and her new friends could have easily been killed by Glory, and yet she had still decided against telling them why. She slumped down onto the bed, a look of shock on her face.

"My god, what have I done?" she asked, failing to keep the tears from falling.

Leo sat next to her and wrapped his arms around her, trying to give her comfort as best he could. "The sooner you work that out, and how to fix it, the better."

They remained in that position for a few minutes, before she moved out of his embrace, feeling a little uncomfortable. "Thanks for that."

"Not a problem," he replied kindly. "Do you need any help with your things?" he asked, not wanting to sound unkind, but knowing that he had to make her realise she had no real alternative.

She looked sad once again, realising that she still had to leave, but she didn't argue about staying this time. She simply shook her head slowly. "No, I didn't really unpack that much. I'll only be a minute." She then slowly got up and continued to gather up her things.

**The Magic Box,  
Sunnydale,  
California,  
A Couple Of Hours After Being Brought Back.**

Leo had orbed Buffy as close to the dorms as possible, but his inability to go near the Hellmouth meant that she'd still had a ten-minute walk. She dropped off her stuff and then made her way to the Magic Shop, desperately needing to speak to Giles. She walked in and found him standing behind the counter.

He'd heard the bell on the door sound and looked up to see who it was, and was a little surprised to see that it was Buffy. "Buffy, what are you doing back? Where is Xander?" he asked.

Hearing Xander's name caused the feelings to come surging back, but she willed herself not to cry. "He hates me Giles, he hates all of us!" she exclaimed, her voice shaky.

Giles just looked confused by what she was almost shouted. "What are you talking about?"

She walked over to the table and flops down into the nearest chair. "Xander knows about Dawn being the Key; Leo could sense her energy signature when they met at the hospital. He was talking it over with the others and Xander overheard."

Giles realised that finding out the way it had would not have gone down well with Xander, and that he probably confronted Buffy as soon as he found out. He sat down next to her and took her hands into his own, trying to offer his surrogate daughter as much support as he was able.

"What did you say?" he asked.

She laughed somewhat bitterly. "I didn't get to say much of anything; he must really be 'The One Who Sees', as he managed to find out everything he needed just by looking at me."

"I take it that he wasn't happy?"

"_That's_ the understatement of the year. Once he'd worked out that the others knew he was shaking with rage. I don't think I've ever seen him that angry before Giles and I can't say that I blame him either. We, I, trusted _Spike_ more than him Giles, can you imagine how he took that? This is the second time I've chosen a vampire over him."

To say that Giles was surprised at her choice of words would be an understatement. It indicated more than just an aggrieved friend. "Second time you've… Buffy, what are you saying?" he asked.

"It's just that we've always overlooked him and what he can do and I think that this is the final straw. He's finally left me."

Giles was just about to call her on what she was saying about Xander, when Spike and Riley came waltzing in.

"So Droopy has finally taken the hint huh? About bloody time he got the message," Spike said with a smug grin.

Already having had more than his fill of both of them for one century, Giles decided to get straight to the point. "Shut up Spike."

Surprisingly, Riley came to Spike's defence, in a manner of speaking. "Spikes right, Xander was nothing but a liability, you said it yourself enough times."

Buffy squared him with a look that told him exactly what would happen if he kept talking. "I just didn't want him to get hurt; he had the best chance out of all of us to have a normal life and I wanted him to have that. The only way I could think of him to get that was to keep him out of patrolling, which of course never worked out, so I stopped trying. I didn't want to tell him about Dawn as I didn't want him to treat her differently; he was the only one that's been able to cheer her up since mom got ill, and I knew that he would want us to tell her and mom. He took all of that as us belittling him and his abilities and this time we've gone too far."

Giles was quickly realising that, even with the best of intentions, they had been slowly undermining everything that Xander had been doing.

"I'm sure that once he has had time to calm down things will sort themselves out," he said in way of making her feel better, even if it did feel hollow to his own ears.

She shook his head sadly, remembering what he was like when he'd told her he knew. "I don't think so Giles, you didn't see him. When it sunk in, all emotion left his face and voice and that was when he asked Leo to bring me back. There was a dead look in his eyes Giles, as though I meant nothing to him anymore."

Before Giles could respond, Spike decided to re-enter the conversation. "I don't see what the big problem is, he never actually did anything so it isn't as though he'll be missed."

Riley smiled slightly, seeing this as an opportunity to have another pop shot at Xander. He hadn't really thought one way or the other about Xander, tolerating him mostly as he was a friend of Buffy's. Ever since Buffy decided to go with him to San Francisco, instead of staying with him as any good girlfriend should, he'd slowly begun to despise the man.

"The demons will miss having him to throw around," he responded with a smirk.

Spike laughed and momentarily forgot he didn't like Riley, his dislike towards Xander was simply greater. "And I suppose we'll have to find someone else to get the donuts," he added.

Just as Riley was about to think of something else to say, Giles suddenly stood up and stalked over to them. "_Shut up!_" he roared. "How many times do we have to go through this? Do I need to find a more painful way to explain it to you, or should I go and get Cordelia to do it? Or maybe Tara?"

Realising that Giles would follow through with his threat, they both shut up instantly, knowing only bad things would happen to them if they continued.

Buffy looked up at Giles with a questioning look. "Cordelia's here?" she asked.

"Yes, after she rang I asked them to come over and explain what was happening, they'll be around for a day or two before going back to LA," he informed his charge.

"Why would you be threatening them with Cordy? And why would it work?"

"Spike thought it would be a good idea to denigrate Xander in front of her, and her reaction was typically Cordelia. She can be quite intimidating when required."

Buffy smiled at that, remembering the time she'd scared off a vamp simply by talking to it. "I remember. Did I hear you also threaten them with _Tara_?" she asked surprised.

"After you left for San Francisco, we ended up in a discussion about Xander's worth in the group. Tara made a very good case on his behalf, one that I have to say I agree with wholeheartedly. I just wish that I had said so sooner."

She wished that she had been there for that; Tara wasn't exactly known for being outspoken, that was more Willow's…

"Tara did? Not Willow?"

"I'm afraid that, while her feelings were not in the same vein as Spike or Riley, she was also of the opinion that he should be kept out of the group 'for his own safety'."

She could see that Giles had to stop himself from making air quotes; he really had been around Americans too long. "And this would be, what, the third time we tried?" she asked rhetorically. "Both previous times he ends up helping to save the world. I know that I was part of the 'keep Xander out of the fight' club, but I had always done it in the hopes that he would remain safe and have a normal life. What I forgot was that it has always been his choice whether or not he fought. I can't believe that Willow can't see the same, I mean she's known him longer than I have so she should know how special he is."

Giles once again recognised the tone that Buffy was using when talking about Xander, one she hadn't used before in his regard.

Hearing Buffy talk up Xander, Riley's anger toward him overrode his survival instincts. "Will you stop going on about Xander as though he's the second coming! If he's so special why are you going out with me?" he asked, setting himself up for a fall.

"I have no idea," she answered honestly.

"You know what, I'm sick of this! You've had not time at all for me lately and I've had enough!" he hollered.

Buffy, already reaching breaking point, was finding it extremely difficult not to rip out his spine and beat him to death with it. Riley had been acting like a completely different person recently, and it wasn't someone she wanted to be friends with, let alone be in a relationship with.

"I'm so sorry that my mother had a brain tumour and I have a fucking goddess coming after my sister!" she shouted sarcastically.

Riley somehow missed the sarcasm that was oozing out of every syllable. "It's too late for apologies Buffy. Graham contacted me a few weeks ago about reenlisting, I was going to turn him down but now I think I'll accept. You need to choose Buffy, I can't play second fiddle anymore."

Buffy looked at him like he'd grown a second head and called it Harvey. "You're asking me to choose between you and everything and everyone else in my life? Gee, that's a difficult decision," she said with mock seriousness.

Once again, Riley seemed to be having selective hearing. "I'll give you a couple of days to think about it."

"I don't need a couple of _seconds_, let alone a couple of days. I can't be with someone who can't accept me the way I am. I hope you have fun in the military."

Riley had no problems hearing that. "You can't mean that!" he exclaimed, shocked that his woman would say such a thing.

"You've put down one of my closest friends almost constantly the past few days, you think that you should come first in my eyes above all else, and you never listen to my point of view."

"I can see that you're still undecided so I'll speak to you tomorrow," he said before turning to leave.

Exasperated, Buffy got up and walked over to Riley, a fire in her eyes that he knew was not a good thing to have directed at him. "Riley, I want you to get this through your redneck, inbred mind. We are _through_!"

Wanting to regain some modicum of pride, he stood in his most superior pose. "I don't like your attitude Buffy; I don't think that we should see each other anymore. I'll be taking Graham up on that offer, I'll leave tomorrow." He then turned and walked out of the shop, probably for the last time.

"Fine by me," she stated authoritatively, meaning every syllable.

There was silence for a few seconds before Spike interrupted it with a bout of hysterical laughter.

"That was excellent slayer, almost as good as an episode of Passions that," he managed to get out before chortles.

Buffy hit him as hard as she could in the face, sending him sailing through the air and landing unceremoniously on his ass.

"What the hell was that for you stupid bint?" he asked as he pulled himself up. "It's not fair to hit someone that can't fight back, you know I'm harmless."

She could hear the hint of amusement in his voice and finally realised the truth. "That is something you will never be Spike. I've given you too many chances, and worse, I started to forget what you really are, a cold-blooded, vicious killer…"

"Compliments will get you everywhere."

"… Who has tried to kill or have us killed more times than anything else we've ever faced," she finished, ignoring his cutting in completely. "I've had it with you; I'm going to give you 24 hours to leave town, and if you're not gone by then I'm going to hunt you down and kill you so slowly you'll want to stake yourself before I'm through."

Spike tried unsuccessfully to be affronted by that. "After everything I've done for you, I get treated like this?"

"All you've been is a bleach blonde fly in my ointment from the first moment we met," she stated, finally seeing the truth of her words.

"I'm not the only one who gets their colour from a bottle you know," he pointed out with a sneer.

Getting annoyed with Spike, and annoyed at herself for leaving such an easy opening, she set her hardest glare on him. "You have ten seconds to leave before I stake you."

This time Spike was annoyed. "You said I had 24 hours!" he shouted, affronted that she had changed her mind.

A predatory smile appeared on her features. "I never said that I would stake you in the heart."

Realising that he had well and truly outstayed his welcome, he went to leave. "I'm going, but only because I want to, not because you threatened me." He then ran like the wind out of the door, leaving Buffy and Giles alone in the shop.

"What am I going to do Giles? Xander hates me and is leaving, Riley finally tore my last nerve and is leaving, Spike is finally leaving, which means that Dawn will probably hate me and run away…"

Seeing that Buffy was two steps away from hyperventilating, Giles tried to calm her down. "Buffy you have to calm down. As far as Dawn is concerned, I'll give her the watchers journals detailing Spikes exploits, specifically the two slayers he has killed. It's callous and I will no doubt be in her bad books for some time, but it will have the desired effect. As for Spike, I'll more than gladly hold him down while you plunge a holy water soaked stake into his shrivelled heart. As for Riley, all I can say is thank you for finally coming to your senses. As a fighter he's useful, but as a person he's one step up from a house brick."

She stifled her laughter at Giles' less than flattering appraisal of her now ex-boyfriend. "And Xander?" she asked, hoping that he would have the answers to the most important question running through her head at the moment.

"To be honest I haven't the faintest idea. Although it wasn't intentional, we've shown him that we don't trust him, and worse that we trust him less than a vampire, a creature he detests with a passion. At the moment he may hate us, and may well remain that way, but he doesn't feel the same about Dawn or Joyce. He'll still be there for them if they need anything and he'll help us to protect Dawn from Glory, of that I have no doubt."

Buffy knew that he was right; it just wasn't in Xander's nature to abandon a friend in need, whatever justification he might have for doing so. He would even come to help her if she were in trouble, just that at the moment he would do it without actually talking to her or acknowledging her existence.

"I know you don't like me to swear, and I may have a couple of times already tonight, but we have royally fucked up this time."

"I'm afraid so," he said in agreement, "I only hope that the damage isn't permanent."

Realising that there wasn't any more she could do, she turned to leave. "I need to see Willow and Tara to tell them the situation, then I'll go home and talk to mom and Dawn. It's time that they know the truth and I want to be the one to do it."

"I understand. Do you still have the orb?" he asked.

She remembered that Giles had given her a mystical orb that would help explain what Dawn was, if they ever had to do so. "Yeah, thanks for reminding me; I'll need that to prove I haven't finally gone loco. We need to start preparing, Glory will be coming soon and we have to be ready."

"I agree, but I think that it is Xander that needs to be ready. Glory will no doubt go after him first, as he's still the only lead she has to Dawn's whereabouts."

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Everybody had been giving Xander some space since Buffy left; they could all see that he did not want to talk about what had happened. They all knew that keeping it bottled up was not the healthiest way to go, but the feelings were too raw for him to be rational about things at the moment. Since coming back into the manor, he had been sitting quietly in the living room. That was until he had gone down to the basement to find Leo. "Leo, I want you to check something out for me."

Being that this was the first time Xander had spoken to anyone, Leo took it as a good sign. "I'll do my best, what is it that you want?" he asked.

"The memories that I have of Dawn, well the ones more than six months old anyway, are all fake, implanted magically right?" he asked in reply, although it was obvious he already knew the answer.

"Right."

"And that it was the magic that caused Joyce's tumour?"

"Right again." Leo could see that Xander had been thinking quite a lot about this.

"Well you've said it yourself that if I'm affected by magic it won't turn out right, so I want you to check me for any after effects. I also wanted to know if they changed my perception of how things happened to incorporate Dawn in them, and I want to know if they changed how I felt about things as well. Is there any way that you can do that?"

Leo had to contain a chuckle at Xander asking if he could do something; Xander knew what he could or could not do even more than he did himself. The only reason he put it that way was to give him an escape if he didn't want to do it, and Leo appreciated the thought. "I can try. If I find anything do you want me to fix it?" he enquired.

"That depends on what it is," Xander replied, "or if there is anything to fix at all. Glory and those monks are all free agents so the magic that they use may affect me the same as everyone else."

He could tell that Xander didn't believe that, he wouldn't be asking if he did. "OK, I'll do it."

Xander breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Leo, although the smile didn't reach his eyes. "Well there's no time like the present."

Leo nodded, realising that there was no point in putting it off. "This may feel strange."

Leo placed his hands on Xander's head, in much the same way he'd done with Joyce. After about a minute he released Xander and sat down on the seat next to him.

"Well?" Xander asked impatiently.

"There are no bad side effects to the magic, and your perception of events have not changed, for the most part."

"For the most part?" he asked, not liking the fact that his perception had been changed at all.

"Apart from the last six months, every time you have used your extra strength or speed to kill a vampire or demon, you didn't."

"Didn't kill them?" he asked confused.

"Didn't use your abilities, mainly because you didn't have them."

"What do you mean I didn't have them?" he asked shocked.

"For the spell to work on you effectively, it had to merge the remnants of the hyena and the soldier that were still present within you. Before the spell, you had the knowledge of the soldier but not the skill to use anything but the basics. Also before the spell you didn't have the increased strength or speed of the hyena. You still had the healing ability, and seeing some of your memories that was a very good thing as well."

"If I didn't have the extra strength or speed, how did I do the things I did?"

"A combination of adrenaline and sheer determination."

A sudden anger appeared on his face, remembering the conversation he had with Buffy. "So you're telling me that the five years of guilt I've felt for not telling everyone about the whole hyena upgrade thing isn't real?" he bit out, trying to remain calm, it wasn't Leo's fault after all.

Leo remembered that Buffy and Xander had talked about that and gave him a sympathetic look. "I'm afraid not. There is another thing."

Xander looked like he was on information overload, which wouldn't have surprised the Whitelighter in the slightest given everything, but indicated that Leo should continue. "Don't keep me hanging, what is it?" he asked, sounding tired all of a sudden.

"You cannot be possessed again under any circumstances, alive or dead."

Xander's eyes lit up on hearing that, the first piece of genuinely good news he'd had in a while. "Are you telling me that I can never be turned?" he asked with unrestrained happiness in his voice.

"That's correct."

The smile that appeared on Xander's face this time was genuine. "You have no idea how good that makes me feel."

One of Xander's greatest fears was that he might one day become a vampire, using his knowledge of his friends against them. Know that can now never happen was like a weight lifted off his shoulders.

Leo saw this as a good time to bring up Buffy. "I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but how are you feeling? You haven't said much since you found out about Dawn being the Key, or Buffy keeping it from you."

Xander gave Leo a look that could melt steel. "You're right; I don't want to talk about it."

"OK, just remember that if you need to talk, we're all here for you."

His look softened and he gave Leo a small smile in apology. "Thanks, it means a lot."

"To keep your mind off things, the girls have brought forward you training to today. Prue is going to be your personal magic tutor as you know, but I have to warn you that she takes it very seriously."

Xander laughed slightly, remembering the look on Prue's face when she had first talked about being his teacher. "I worked that out already. I have to say that if I had tutors like her in High School I would have got straight A's easy."

Although he would never say it out loud, Piper would kill him if he did, he had to agree. "I'm sure. You have about an hour before she wants to start, so you better get yourself some food inside you, you'll need the energy."

"I've been thinking and I've decided that I want to go see the Elders," Xander said out of the blue.

That took Leo by surprise, Xander had been pretty adamant that he didn't want to meet them. "What changed your mind?" he asked.

"I've been putting it off because I didn't want to hear what they had to say, with recent events I think it's time I stop worrying about what they might have to tell me and just find out and deal with it. Do you think we could go now?" he asked.

"Sure, but you might be late for Prue's lesson, time flows differently up there."

"I'm sure she'll understand," he replied, "and I'll suffer any punishment she lays out with my usual charm and grace if she doesn't."

"Why do I find that a little unbelievable?" he asked with a smile.

"Probably because you've met me. Come on then, there's no time like the present." Leo put his hand on Xander's shoulder and orbed them to see the Elders.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

_**Chapter Fourteen**_

**Spike's Car,  
Just Outside Sunnydale,  
California.**

Spike was pulling out all the stops in his car, trying to get as far away as possible before his 24 hours were up. He'd raided a few crypts and dusted a few vamps to 'earn' some going away money, and was now making his way towards Toronto, Canada; he still had a few contacts there that wouldn't kill him on sight or shop him to Lucien Lacroix.

"I'm not staying around to be the slayer's whipping boy anymore!" he shouted to himself. "I'm going to find someone who can get this damn chip out of my head and then the Big Bad will be back and the slayer will be on her knees before me."

Spike began to think about what he'd get Buffy to do once she was on her knees and lost focus on the road, causing the car to veer left.

"I'd pay more attention to the road if I were you William."

Spike looked up and saw a lorry heading straight for him; he just about managed to swerve out of the way without losing control of the car. He then realised that someone else was in the car with him and turned to face them.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked the stranger sitting beside him.

"I do keep forgetting to introduce myself. I am the Source."

"The bloke after Droopy?" he asked, suddenly interested in finding out why he was in his car instead of simply kicking him out.

"If by Droopy you mean Alexander, then yes, I am the 'bloke' after him. I have a proposition for you William, one I think you'll agree to."

"I've had enough of working for people," he stated firmly. "I'm William the bloody Bloody and I no longer work for anybody but my self. I'm my own man, well vampire, from now on."

"I'm sure that you'll be agreeable to the deal I am about to suggest. It would end with the removal of that troublesome chip you have unfortunately been fitted with."

"I'm listening," he said immediately, desperate to have removed the one obstacle between him and his objectives.

"To begin with I shall modify the chip so that it will only work on certain people, so I can ensure that you'll keep your end of the bargain. I have two simple tasks for you to perform. The first is to kill Alexander's parents, as painfully as you like, but do not under any circumstances turn them. The other task is to kidnap the Slayer and bring her to me."

"Which one?"

"Pardon?" the Source asked.

"There are two slayers mate; which one do you want me to kidnap?" he asked.

"Why Elizabeth of course, I don't believe kidnapping Faith would have the same effect on Alexander's state of mind do you?"

"Killing Droopy's parents will be a piece of piss; snatching the blonde bint will take some planning."

"I'm sure that someone of your calibre will have no problems with in concocting a plan of action in that regard. I do have to point out however that time is of the essence, every day Alexander has to train is a day closer to his full potential, something I do not want him to achieve. Once you have completed those tasks, I will completely remove the chip and you will be free to run amok as much as you desire."

"I'll do it, but only because I hate Droopy and the bint, _not_ because I want to work for you," Spike stated authoritatively, well as authoritatively as one could be to someone who could kill you with but a thought.

"Duly noted," the Source replied sarcastically, not bothering to hide the fact he didn't believe a word Spike said.

**The Elders domain,  
Elsewhere.**

Leo and Xander arrived at their final destination, Xander stumbling slightly upon arrival.

"Whoa, that's a rush."

Xander looked a bit dizzy, this being his first actual experience of orbing, but otherwise fine. Having knowledge of how it would feel probably helped him prepare.

"You get used to it, you should have seen how Buffy…" Leo drifted off, not wanting to add to the pain Xander was feeling at the moment, as he was having to deal with a hell of a lot in a short space of time.

"You can talk about her Leo," he informed his friend, "she is definitely at the top of my 'People I Never Want To Speak To' list at the moment, but that doesn't mean that you have to be the same."

"I just don't want to bring up bad memories," Leo said, knowing how raw everything must be for Xander at the moment.

"You do this long enough and everything will bring up a memory of something, good or bad," Xander noted, showing wisdom beyond his years. "Is it just me or is this place pretty quiet? I would have thought that The Seven would have known we were coming and be here waiting." As if on queue, the seven Elders that had talked to Leo previously appeared on their podiums.

The Elder on the centre podium is the first to speak. "You are indeed 'The One Who Sees' Alexander."

Xander bowed slightly in respect. "Elders, a pleasure to meet you. Please call me Xander, Alexander is what my 'parents' called me, when they remembered that they actually had a son."

"As you wish, Xander. You wanted to speak with us?" the Elder asked.

"Well, you told Leo that you wanted to see me, so I thought I'd pay a visit. That, and talk to you about Dawn."

The centre Elder nodded in acknowledgement of the name. "The Key."

Xander growled slightly but kept his voice calm. "Her name in _Dawn_," he stated, emphasising her name.

The third Elder continued the conversation. "Yes, it is now. The spell was unexpected to say the least."

"How did they do it?" he asked.

"They used the slayer's blood to make the… Dawn." Xander smiled in appreciation of the Elders amendment.

"That's strange, why not Joyce? She is her mother after all?" he asked curiously.

"You know that she is not."

"As far as I'm concerned she is," he rejoined, "hell _I'd_ call her mom if I didn't think she'd freak. If she was made from Buffy's blood…"

The Elder on the far left cut Xander off. "Not Elizabeth, the Slayer." Xander looked confused by that.

"You really need to explain that one to me."

"Elizabeth may have the abilities of the Slayer, but she stopped being the Slayer the moment she died. The Slayer essence passed on to Kendra then when she died the Slayer essence went to…"

Xander finished the sentence. "… Faith. Dawn was made from _Faith_?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes," the Elder replied simply.

Xander took a few seconds to think about that before speaking. "Well, that does explain why she doesn't look like Joyce or Buffy, but she doesn't exactly look like Faith either, although now I think about it that's probably a good thing."

The fifth Elder took up the conversation. "The monks were wise enough not to make a carbon copy as that would raise suspicion."

"Alright I can understand that," he said, "but why did Dawn go to Buffy?"

"All the time that the Slayer is keeping herself in prison, she is unable to protect Dawn. The monks knew this, so they sent her to Elizabeth."

Xander got confused about what the Elder said. "What do you mean Faith is keeping herself in prison?" he asked, knowing that the department of Corrections isn't _that_ lax.

"There is no human prison that could contain the Slayer if she did not permit it."

Xander nodded in acknowledgement at that. He had never really thought about it before, but if Faith had wanted out she would be, and his opinion of her changed at that realisation.

Something began to bother Xander, but he ensured that he kept his voice as neutral as possible. "I know that you're not doing this on purpose, and I do not wish to offend, but I really hate hearing people I know being talked about by their title and not their name. I may be 'The One Who Sees', Dawn may be the Key and Faith may be the Slayer, but those titles are just a part of who we are. You start forgetting the people behind the titles, you'll begin to see them as nothing but tools, which makes you no different than the First or the Source."

Xander couldn't help adding a little bit of anger at the end, as the Elders reminded him a little of the Council. In the beginning they had been a big help to Slayers, but over the years they stopped seeing them as girls and started seeing them as tools, slowly becoming as evil as the demons they had been formed to assist the Slayer in fighting.

The Elders looked slightly chagrined at being spoken to in such a way, but could see the point Xander was making to be a valid one, something that would not have been pointed out to them by anyone else that they would encounter, given their status. It was a realisation that worried them slightly, as if there were no one around to question their judgements, how easy would it be to make the wrong ones?

The centre Elder responded. "As you said Xander, it is not done intentionally, it is just our way. We shall endeavour to stop doing so in your presence." Xander bowed slightly in recognition of their words. "You have difficult times ahead of you Xander, your physical and mental well-being will be tested to their extremes and how you fair could very well affect every living thing on the planet. Alas, due to circumstance out of our control, you no longer have the time to learn all of your abilities in time for the upcoming events, so we have decided to assist you. With your permission, we would like to give you all the knowledge you need to use your abilities to their full potential. The feeling will be intense, and your mind will need to recuperate for 48 hours afterwards."

"Which means?" he asked, wanting to know exactly what would happen to him if he were to take them up on their offer.

"You will be asleep for two days to allow your brain to assimilate the knowledge we shall give you. Do you agree to allow us to proceed?" the Elder asked, his tone indicating that it was a foregone conclusion.

"Before I give you my answer, why are you doing this?" he asked, his tone a little suspicious. Xander had always been a believer that you should _always_ look a gift horse in the mouth.

"We have not taken an active role in this war for a very long time, maybe too long. We realise that to succeed, we must take more direct action and this is our first step in doing so. What is your answer?"

Believing that they are telling him the truth, and not seeing any other viable option that will get him ready sooner rather than later, he nodded. "Yes."

As soon as he gave his answer, all seven Elders raised their right hand in Xander's direction, and beams of energy shot from them into his body. After a couple of moments the beams stopped and they lowered their hands. Xander slumped lifelessly to the ground, Leo by his side in an instant. He checked his pulse and found that it was strong and constant, indicating that he was just unconscious, and he silently sighed in relief. He hadn't thought that the Elders would have tried to harm him, but there was a nagging little voice in the back of his head that worried that they may consider him a threat to their leadership.

"Leo," the centre Elder began, "take him back and keep watch, he is at his most vulnerable now from attack, from both the Source and from Glory."

"Yes Elders." He lifted Xander up and went to orb away, but something caused him to stop for a moment. "How did the spell affect Xander? I thought that as 'The One Who Sees' he was immune?"

"He is, but what he is unaware of is that if he consents to a spell being used on him it will affect him like anyone else. It is the reason you were able to heal him when he cut himself, how you were able to check for any side effects, and how you were able to orb him here to meet with us."

Leo hadn't thought about it before, but it made sense. The only way for an ability like the one Xander had to work would be if it made him immune to all magic, which would make healing him impossible. By being able to drop that… shield for want of a better word, under certain circumstances was a big advantage. His curiosity sated, Leo orbed himself and Xander back to the manor.

**Outside Crawford Street Mansion,  
Sunnydale,  
California.**

Buffy had visited Willow and Tara's dorm a little while ago, letting them know that she was back and the reason why. Tara looked like she had expected it; Buffy guessed that being able to see things from the outside had its advantages.

Willow was adamant that Xander would forgive them, saying simply that he was Xander. She wouldn't even consider the possibility that Xander was anything but blowing off steam; it was as though she had a record of Xander that was stuck on when he was still a freshman in High School and the weirdest thing he had to face was Cordelia.

Buffy had also been guilty of that until recently, only seeing Xander as the sixteen year old boy she first met who couldn't string a sentence together without putting his foot in it. The realisation that he had actually grown up was one of the biggest revelations of her life, and she had yet to decide whether she was glad about it or not, given her recent thoughts.

Trying to put off the conversation she had to have with her mother and Dawn, she decided to go see Angel and the others that came from LA. She had to admit that she no longer had the same feelings that she once had when thinking of Angel; he was still important to her, and probably always would be, but she didn't love him anymore, at least not in the way she used to.

Shivering slightly as a gust of wind went by, she walked up to the mansion and for the first time in her life, knocked on the front door. After a couple of seconds, Wesley opened the door.

"Good Evening Buffy," he greeted, surprised to see her given what they had been told.

"Hi Wesley. Can I come in?" Buffy asked politely.

"If you're not a vampire absolutely." Buffy smiled slightly at his choice of words and stepped over the threshold. "I was under the assumption that you were in San Francisco with Xander," Wesley said, the question behind it clear.

"I was," Buffy replied, her voice catching slightly as she once again thought about why she was back, "it's a long story so I'd prefer to tell everyone at the same time."

"I understand completely. Angel and Cordelia are both in the living room, trying to make it a little more hospitable. You were lucky you were not around the first time Cordelia saw the state of the place, I still have a ringing in the ears caused by her scream."

Buffy winced at the thought. "I can imagine."

They walked into the living room to find Cordelia dusting the mantelpiece while Angel was trying to work out how to use the Hoover. Buffy's unsuccessful attempt to stifle a laugh caught their attention.

"Buffy," Angel said reverently in greeting.

The normal butterflies she got when he said her name weren't there anymore, the final indicator that she was finally over him.

"Angel," she responded.

He looked a little saddened by the neutral way she responded, but said nothing. An uncomfortable silence permeated the room for a few moments, no one quite knowing what to say, until Buffy turned to Cordelia.

"Hi Cordy."

Cordelia put on her best fake smile and walked over to Buffy, giving her a quick hug before stepping back. She had tried, she really had, but she just couldn't bring herself to like Buffy. "Hey Buffy, what are you doing back in Sunnydale, I thought that you were keeping Xander company?" she asked, hoping to get the conversation over with as quickly as possible so she'd leave.

"That's what I came to talk to you about, there are some things that you should know."

Buffy then spent the next ten minutes explaining about Dawn, Glory and Xander to them. No one made any comments until after she'd finished talking. Buffy had expected Cordelia to rant and rave at her, and she wasn't disappointed.

"Are you that _retarded_? That bleach must have finally reached your brain because nobody with the slightest amount of sense would have thought that Xander would have treated her any differently! He wouldn't care if you told him she was an alien and Mulder and Scully were after her! Did _you_ treat Dawn differently after you found out? Did Giles or the others?"

"Not really," Buffy was forced to admit.

Buffy thought about it, and other than them being more worried about who she was with and where she went, things Dawn would have just attributed to her mom being in hospital, no one had treated her any differently.

Willow and Tara hadn't, except maybe include her in more things in a way to keep an eye on her. Dawn didn't really like Riley for some reason, not that she'd liked any of Buffy's boyfriends actually, so he hadn't really had a chance to act much of anything around her. Spike, she was loathed to admit, seemed to genuinely like Dawn and although she tried to limit the time he was around her little sister, he didn't really seem to change the way he acted around her. Of course if Spike was good at anything it was lying.

"So what made you think he would?" Cordelia asked angrily.

Buffy threw her hands up in anger. "I don't know OK!"

Cordelia matched her anger. "No it's _not_ OK! However you try to look at it, you just didn't think Xander was worthy of keeping in the loop. I may have given him the moniker, but you gave him the role."

Buffy's anger turned to confusion. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

"The Zeppo. I called him that a couple of years ago, knowing that was the one thing that would get through his defences and really hurt. His parents have always called him useless, ironic when you think about it, as they haven't done anything but drink since he was five. He's always wanted to prove them wrong, that he could be of some use. As far as Xander's concerned right now, you've just proved them right. Congratulations on a job well done."

Seeing Buffy's obvious pain concerning the whole subject, Angel tried to soften Cordelia's words. "I know that you're feeling guilty over this Buffy, and I wish I could say that it was unfounded, but I can't. One thing I can say for certain is that Xander will forgive you. Once he has calmed down, and you've been able to explain your reasons why you didn't tell him, he will be able to understand why you did it. He won't agree with it and I can't really blame him, but he will be able to forgive you. He loves you."

That simple statement, and with the reluctant certainty with which Angel said it, shocked Buffy completely. "He doesn't love me!"

Cordelia saw this as the perfect opportunity to rejoin the conversation. "Oh come on Buffy, everybody who knows him will be able to tell you the same thing."

Disbelief was clearly written on Buffy's face as she shook her head. "But he was with you, and then Anya."

"Don't forget Faith," Cordelia pointed out, knowing Buffy's feelings towards the other Chosen One.

Buffy's face darkened at the mention of her sister Slayer. "Believe me I wish I could, but my point is that even if he had feelings for me before they're gone now."

Cordelia just rolled her eyes. "What did you expect him to do, stay single for the rest of his life in the slim hope that you might remember he had a Y chromosome? I'm not saying that he didn't have feelings for Anya or me, as I know that he did, but those feelings pale in comparison to his feelings for you. If you had ever shown the slightest _hint_ that you felt the same, he would have dropped either one of us like a sack of potatoes and gone out with you in a heartbeat. I could handle being second in his heart; I knew his feelings for you when I started going out with him. I couldn't handle being third which was why I took his thing with Willow so badly. Anya had to have felt the same, Xander is just too transparent to have hidden it from her for long."

"I never saw it," Buffy said, wondering how she could have missed something that sounded so obvious.

"You never looked," Cordelia replied, her anger lessening slightly but still prevalent. "The bottom line is this; if it were up to me he would _never_ forgive you and finally move on with his life. The problem is it isn't down to me, which means that he will forgive you, even if you don't deserve it."


	15. Chapter Fifteen

_**Chapter Fifteen**_

**Harris Residence,  
Sunnydale,  
California.**

Spike knocked on the door the Xander's parents house. Although the vampire had lived there for a while, Xander no longer did and therefore the invite was no longer in effect, meaning that he couldn't just slip in and drain them in their sleep. Not that it would take long to get another invite, as Spike knew that Xander's parents had killed most of their brain cells with alcohol a long time ago.

Anyway, he wanted to enjoy his first proper kill in a year, and that meant he had to see their fear and feel their pulse quicken.

Tony Harris, Xander's father, opened the door and he looked like he was just about able to stand up. "What do you want?" he asked, as though he were addressing shit.

The only thing that was stopping Spike from ripping Tony apart right there and then was because no part of his body was across the threshold. Doing his best to remain calm, he responded to the drunken man's question.

"Is Xander here?" he asked, feigning politeness.

"What's the little _shit_ done this time?" Xander's father asked belligerently.

"Nothing," he replied, "it's just that the last time I was here I borrowed some money from him and wanted to repay him."

Seeing this as a chance to get some free money at his son's expense, Xander's father stepped out of the way. "Come in, he'll be back soon."

Spike forced his way in, knocking Tony Harris into the wall. He vamped out and smiled ferally at the drunken waste of a man. "Thanks for the invite mate, I'm in need of a drink and it's been a _long_ time since I've had it from the source."

In the blink of an eye, Spike's fangs were piercing Tony's neck, draining the lifeblood out of him in earnest.

The noise of Tony's body hitting the wall caught the interest of Jessica Harris, Xander's mother. She staggered into the hall just as Spike drank the last of the blood from Tony's body, leaving him nothing more than a dry husk.

Being several sheets to the wind, she didn't notice her husband's deceased state, using all of her concentration to focus on Spike. "Who are you?" she slurred.

Spike turned to look at her, an almost euphoric look in his eyes due to his first human kill in over a year. "I'm the last thing you'll _ever_ see."

Finally noticing her husband's dead body, and the demonic features of Spike, Jessica went to scream, but Spike's hand was covering her mouth before the noise reached her lips. Twisting her head savagely to one side, Spike repeated what he did to Tony and drained every drop of blood from her body, the alcohol and fear in her body making it a potent cocktail. Once she was completely drained, he slung her over his right shoulder and then walked over to the corpse of Xander's father and put him over his left.

"Nobody gives a shit about you two so I can't just leave you here and hope you're found," he said to the now dead Harris', knowing that if he had left them where they'd dropped it could have been days before anyone noticed.

Spike thought about the different places he could leave them and then suddenly a wide grin appeared on his face as he decided on the perfect drop off point.

Ten minutes later he found himself outside the Rosenburg's house.

He dropped the Harris' on the front porch before knocking on the front door twice and running off. The last thing he heard was a scream as the door was opened.

"One job down," he said to himself with a smile, "one to go."

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Leo orbed into the living room, Xander still asleep in his arms. Before anyone else could move, Prue rushed over to the two of them, brushing the hair out of Xander's face before speaking.

"Leo, what happened to Xander?" she asked abruptly.

"He's fine," he assured her, "just asleep. Xander and I went up to see the Elders; he wanted to find out a bit more about Dawn. After they talked about that, the Elders told him that he didn't have time to learn everything he needs to know about his abilities, so they gave him the knowledge he needs magically. Due to the massive amount of information he's been given, and in such a short space of time, his brain needs time to process it all."

"How long will he be out?" she asked him.

"Two days," he replied. Leo suddenly realised that Xander would need to be looked after. "He's vulnerable at the moment as he won't be able to defend himself if the Source sends anyone after him, or if Glory comes back. I don't want to leave him in the motel…"

"Put him in my room," Prue said suddenly.

Everyone was startled by Prue's decision, Piper being the first to pluck up the courage to ask her about it. Prue didn't like to be questioned about her decisions.

"Prue?"

Prue took her gaze away from Xander, she hadn't stopped looking at him since Leo orbed in, and turned to her younger sister. "I'll look after him until he wakes up, I'm the only one with the free time to do it properly after all."

Piper could see that there was more to it than that, but not being able to fault her reasoning, nodded her assent. "Fine. Leo, can you…"

Leo cut her off before she could continue. "On my way." Xander wasn't the heaviest of people, but he had been holding him for a while. He then orbed to Prue's room.

**Summers Residence,  
Sunnydale,  
California.**

After the eventful meeting with Angel and the other's at the mansion, Buffy rushed over to her mom's house to talk to her and Dawn about who Dawn really is. After her talk with Cordelia she wasn't really in the mood for another soul-baring session, but she knew that if she put it off she wouldn't go through with telling them.

So now she was sitting in the living room with the other two Summers women, trying to think of a way to start the hardest conversation of her life, which with the life she'd led to this point is a rather bold statement. After almost a full minute of uncomfortable silence, Joyce finally decided she needed to start the conversation.

"Buffy, What's wrong?" she asked her daughter.

After a couple of seconds, Buffy finally spoke. "There's something that I need to tell you both. You're probably not going to like it, especially Dawn."

Hearing this, Dawn finally zoned into the conversation, having thought that it wouldn't have anything to do with her and that they had simply forgot she was in the room. "Why me?" she asked.

Buffy's face turned sad for a moment, realising that Dawn would find it as hard to have a normal life as she did from now on. "Because it's to do with you," she informed her sibling.

Joyce's expression instantly turned to worry, getting used to the fact that when Buffy had something to tell her, it was something to do with the supernatural. "Buffy?"

Realising that she needed to put in some groundwork before she dropped the bombshell, she started rummaging through her bag.

"Before I tell you, I need to show you something." Buffy pulled out a small wooden box from her bag and passed it to Joyce. "Open it."

Joyce did so and found a small glass globe inside. When she took it out of the box, the globe began to glow ever so slightly.

"It allows you to see how much power a person possesses," Buffy told her. "90 of people wouldn't be able to get it to react at all."

Buffy quashed the little sliver of worry that came when she saw the orb glow slightly in her mother's hand and took the globe from her, the globe began to glow brightly once in contact with her. "As you can see, Slayers are pretty powerful. Dawn, you hold it."

"Why?" she asked.

"Just hold it, please?" Dawn nodded and reluctantly took the globe from Buffy.

The globe shined so brightly that they all had to turn away from it as the light began to hurt their eyes. The globe began to get hot; so hot in fact that Dawn was no longer able to hold it and dropped it onto the floor, causing the glow to stop instantly. Joyce was the first to come to her senses.

"What the _hell_ was that!?" she asked, shocked by what she had just witnessed.

"That was what I needed to talk to you about." Buffy turned her attention to Dawn. "You have more in common with me that you know Dawn, you've also been Chosen."

Dawn's eyes grew wide as she misunderstood what Buffy meant. "I'm a _Slayer_? Faith's _dead_!"

Buffy shook her head. "No, you're not a slayer. Faith is still in prison last time I checked, and I check every couple of weeks to be on the safe side. You've been chosen to be the Key, with the power to open portals to other dimensions."

Buffy didn't want to tell her sister that she didn't exist as anything but green energy six months ago, knowing that it would probably destroy her. She knew that it would come out eventually, the past few days proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that nothing stayed hidden forever, but she just couldn't bring herself to tell her just yet. Buffy hoped that when Dawn did find out, it wouldn't be as big a blow as it would be now.

Dawn looked at her like she has a second head for a few seconds before speaking. "Have you been smoking pot?" she asked.

Joyce's head spun round to look at her youngest daughter so fast that Buffy wondered how her neck didn't snap in half. "_Dawn_!"

Trying to suppress her smile, Buffy shook her head at Dawn's question. "No Dawn, I've not been smoking pot, believe me I wish I had."

Joyce's head snapped round again, this time to look at her oldest daughter. "_Buffy_!"

"I'm sorry mom, but I didn't want either of you to be involved in my screwball life anymore than necessary. Now I've found out that my sister is actually made of energy and has the power to open portal to places where we're at the bottom of the food chain. And I'm afraid it gets worse." Buffy worried that they may have caught on to her slip of the tongue, but luckily it looked like they hadn't. "There is a goddess out there called Glory that needs to use the Key, Dawn, to get home."

Dawn suddenly looked scared at the thought of someone coming to get her. "She's going to come for me!"

Buffy sat next to her sister and put an arm around her. "Dawn calm down, she doesn't know who or where you are."

Joyce suddenly remembered something. "Buffy, wasn't the… _whatever_ it was that came after Xander called Glory?" she asked.

"How did you know that?" she asked in reply.

"Cordelia came over earlier and told us what had been happening."

Buffy knew that she would have to come clean now, especially after her mother had put on her 'you know I know when you're lying to me so don't try it' face on.

"Yes, it was Glory that came for Xander. She had been told that he knew where the Key, Dawn, was."

Hearing the tone on her voice, Joyce looked at Buffy questioningly. "Well he does, doesn't he?" she asked.

"He does now," she replied vaguely, not wanting to have this conversation on top of everything else.

"What do you mean?" Joyce asked, noting the way Buffy had answered her question without actually answering it.

"Xander found out when he overheard Leo talking about you to the others."

Dawn looked puzzled, wondering why he wouldn't know before then. "How come he didn't know? I mean you knew, Giles had to have known, which explains why he's been so protective of me recently, so why didn't Xander?"

Buffy looked down at her feet, guessing what the reactions were going to be. "We didn't tell him."

Joyce put a hand on Dawn's shoulder, stopping her from saying what she guessed would not be words of encouragement to her sister. She then turned to Buffy, who had not brought her gaze up, and spoke to her in as calm a voice as possible.

"Why not dear?" she asked, keeping her voice calm and soothing, using every self-taught lesson she had experienced since she became a mother.

"I don't know anymore, I thought I did but every reason I thought it was has been blown out of the water by one person or another. The fact is that he knows now, wasn't happy that he hadn't been told sooner or by me, and that's why I'm back. He told Leo to bring me."

Dawn found that strange, Xander must have been livid with Buffy to send her away. "Why would he be so mad, it's not as though everybody knew is it?"

Joyce began to realise what had happened. "Apart from Dawn and I, he was the only one who didn't know wasn't he?"

Buffy looked down at the floor, finding the carpet quite interesting. "Yes."

Joyce hoped she wasn't right about her next question. "Including Spike?" she asked warily.

Buffy seemed to shrink in on herself. "Yes."

"No wonder he told you to leave," she remarked, her tone clearly indicating what she felt.

That caused Buffy to look up at her mother, looking shocked at the tone her mother used, even if she had expected it. "Mom!"

"Come on Buffy, I like Spike, he tries to keep his language clean when he's around Dawn and watches Passions with me sometimes…"

Buffy cut her off. "You watch Passions with Spike!"

Joyce knew that would get her daughters attention. "What's wrong with that?" she asked innocently, guessing she already knew the answer.

"It's _Spike_! You let him in here when I'm not around? There's no way of knowing what he might do!"

Joyce glared at her daughter, no longer trying to hide her anger. "Nice little double standard you have there Buffy. You don't trust Spike enough to be around me on my own, but you trust him enough to help protect your sister, trusting him more than one of your closet friends. It's because of _that_ you're here and not in San Francisco right now," she stated firmly, wanting to make sure her daughter knew what she had done.

"Don't you think I know that?! I betray one of the most important people in my life and I don't even know why anymore. Now he has got Glory _and_ the Source to deal with."

Dawn didn't like the sound of her Xander having to deal with all of that on her account, if he got hurt he might not be able to marry her in two years nine months and twenty-seven days as she's planned.

"I don't want Xander hurt because of me, can't we just help her to get home? I mean, I open the portal, she goes through, everybody's happy right?" she asked, a little hopeful that was all it would take.

Buffy smiled sadly at Dawns, wondering if she were ever that innocent to think that would solve everything. "If only it were that easy. To open the portal, she needs your blood, as in _all_ of it. Also, if the portal to her dimension opens, _all_ portals everywhere will open and won't close again. Ever. That is something we definitely do _not_ want to happen."

Dawn's face paled when she heard her blood would be needed to open the portal. "Oh, forget I said anything."

Buffy heard her mom sniffing and when she looked at her she was able to see tears in her eyes. "Mom, are you alright?" she asked, knowing she wasn't but not knowing what else to say.

"I've just found out that my youngest daughter is in fact able to open portals to other dimensions and a _goddess_ is looking for her so she can use her blood to go home. I may be a lot of things right now, but alright is _not_ one of them. It'll take me a little while to get used to it."

Dawn nodded in agreement. "You and me both." Dawn turned to Buffy, needing to change the subject. "What are you going to do about Xander?"

Dawn was trying not to panic, but if Xander and Buffy didn't make up, he might not come back from San Francisco. If he doesn't come back, she wouldn't be able to marry him, and that simply wouldn't do.

"I don't think there is anything I can do at the moment," Buffy told her, "that's what hurts so much. No matter what has happened, I've always had Xander to turn to. Now he hates me and it's all my fault."

Joyce tried to comfort her daughter. "I don't think he could hate you if he tried." Her mind caught up with what Buffy had said and looked at her strangely. "What did you mean that you've always had Xander to turn to?"

Buffy shrugged. "Whenever I'm sad or have a problem, he's always been there to help or just be a shoulder to cry on."

Joyce could hear the tone in her daughter's voice and started piecing things together slightly. "Do you turn to Xander first when you're troubled?" she asked, Buffy not noticing the tone in her voice but Dawn most certainly did.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Buffy smiled slightly as she thought of Xander. "He always seems to know just what to say to make me feel better and he can always make me smile, even when I don't want to. Sometimes I don't even need to tell him I'm unhappy, he just seems to know and comes to check on me. He allows me to just talk about what's wrong; he doesn't constantly stop me to ask questions. He tries to give me an unbiased opinion, even when he doesn't want to, and I know there have been times when he's _really_ wanted to. It's as if he knows me better than I know myself."

Both Joyce and Dawn could see the wistful smile on Buffy's face as she talked about Xander. "So you feel better when he's around?" Joyce asked.

Buffy looked at her mother as if she'd got a second head. "Of course I do, who wouldn't?" she asked as if it was a simple fact of life.

Joyce smiled at Buffy as only a mother could. "Do you realise you're talking about him like you love him?"

She looked puzzled by that, momentarily forgetting her conversation with Cordelia. "Of course I love him, he's my friend."

Dawn decided to join the conversation, although not too happy about the topic. "That's not what she's talking about Buffy, you're talking about him as though you _love_ him."

Buffy's eyes go wide in shock. "No, no, no. I don't see Xander like that."

Joyce snorted in laughter. "Nonsense, you talk as though you're already going out with him, everything you go to Xander for is exactly what a boyfriend does, or is supposed to at least. Xander has been performing all the duties of a boyfriend, for years it seems, without any of the perks."

Buffy was shocked at the slight smirk on her mother's face. "_Mom_!"

"All I mean is that Xander is doing it because he wants to help, not because he wants anything from you. That's a rare thing in a man, believe me. Although I'm sure if you were to offer perks…" she trailed off and smirked again.

"_Mom_!"

"I'm just saying…"

"First I get Cordy telling me that Xander loves me, now I get my mother telling me I love him."

"Well to start with Cordy is right." Joyce saw Dawn frown. "I'm sorry Dawn, I know you have feelings for him, but you know I'm right."

To say Dawn was upset with the turn of events would be an understatement. "It's just not fair, I've always seen how great he is and he just sees me as Buffy's little sister. She barely sees him as a man and he worships the ground she walks on."

Buffy has by now gotten annoyed with the way everybody was telling her how little she thought of Xander. "I _do_ see him as a man, and he _doesn't_ worship the ground I walk on."

"Okay, so I was going overboard with the whole ground walking thing, but I find it strange that you're the only woman that hasn't found him attractive, everyone else has."

Dawn didn't want to have this conversation, especially with her sister, but her future husband was studly and she wanted to prove she wasn't the only one who had noticed.

"Come on that's going a bit far," Buffy stated, not believing what she was hearing.

"Is it? I've been in love with him for years, Willow had a crush on him for years, Cordelia went from hating him to dating him, Faith slept with him, Anya was the Patron Saint of Scorned Women and yet went out with him, even Tara has said he's a sweetie and she doesn't even like guys that way. That's not mentioning Mantis Lady, Ampata and Drusilla. That's practically every woman he's ever had contact with."

Buffy really did not want to have this type of conversation with her little sister and started to get angry. "What's that supposed to prove?" she asked belligerently.

Seeing that the conversation was taking a severe downturn, Joyce decided to play mediator with her daughters. "All Dawn is trying to say is that it's strange that you never saw him that way."

Hearing her mother say those words triggered the memory of when Xander asked her to the Spring Fling and her telling him she didn't see him that way. The look on his face had nearly broken her heart, but she hadn't wanted to string him along. Her memories then take her to a few hours later when he saved her life, although it was actually more like breathing new life into her.

One of her biggest regrets was never thanking him for that, even going so far as throwing it in his face when she danced with him. In fact a lot of her regrets centred on things concerning the way she'd treated Xander over the years; she realised that she really hadn't been much of a friend to him.

Dawn began to seriously regret this conversation ever, especially as she saw the emotions being played out on her sister's face. She was starting to believe that her sister might actually have feelings for her Xander.

Joyce saw the change in Dawn's mood and gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze. "I know you don't like to hear this Dawn, what with your feelings for Xander, but you're too young for him. Unlike other people I don't care to mention, he wouldn't take advantage of you like that, something else that's rare to find in a man."

Buffy ignored her mother's jibes at the male gender, focussing on the first part of the sentence. "Who's been looking at Dawn and how hard can I kill them."

Joyce smiles. "I wasn't talking about Dawn, I was talking about you."

"Huh?" she asked, wondering how the conversation got back to her so fast.

"You weren't that much older than Dawn when you first met Angel, who even if you forget the fact he's a _vampire_," she spat, disgusted by the thought of her daughter being… intimate with a demon possessed corpse, "Angel was in his mid-twenties when he became one so should have known better. When I first told Xander about Dawn's crush, he said that he would never take advantage of her like that, saying that he wasn't like the rest of the men in his family as he actually _had_ morals. However he did add that if he were still single when Dawn turned eighteen and she felt the same way, he'd consider himself to be a very lucky man."

Dawn felt like her heart was about to jump up out of her throat and do the snoopy dance on the floor.

The others didn't seem to notice and Joyce chuckled as she remembered the end of the conversation. "When he realised he had just said that to her mother, I thought he was going to wet himself."

Not wanting to hear anything about Dawn dating until she was in her thirties, Buffy got a hard look in her eyes. "I hope you told him what would happen."

"Of course, I said that if that did happen I would give my consent."

"_What_!" she screamed, unable to believe what she'd just heard.

"I love Xander like a son, I think he's one of the kindest and most caring men I have had the pleasure to meet, even though his dress sense is borderline criminal and his sense of humour is… unique is probably the kindest way of putting it. I can't think of many men I'd trust more with Dawn's well-being, can you?" she asked in a tone that meant she knew she was right.

Buffy had to admit that Xander would look after Dawn if they ever did go out, although the thought of that happening made her feel strangely upset. "No, I can't."

"And I couldn't think of anyone I'd trust more with yours either," Joyce said, hoping her point got across.

Buffy smiled before she realised what she was smiling about. "Mom I…"

Joyce cut her off before she could continue. "I'm not saying you have to do anything about it, but I am saying that you need to think about how you actually feel about Xander, something I don't think you've never allowed yourself to do. Don't worry about what anybody else thinks or feels, just concentrate on you and Xander. If nothing else it might help you work out how to fix the mess you've got yourself in. Can you do that for me?"

Buffy thought about it, no longer sure how she felt about Xander herself. A very tiny part of her could admit that she'd found him cute when they first met, the way he had fumbled his words when he first spoke to her bordered on adorable.

Any thoughts of Xander in 'that way' were quashed when she'd found out Willow had a major Jones for him, so he was put firmly in the 'friend' category and padlocked away from any other emotions. She wasn't sure whether she could risk taking that padlock off as it might ruin their relationship.

Then she remembered how it was at the moment and realised it couldn't get much worse.

"I'll try," she said, unable to give a definitive answer as she was still worried where it would lead.

Joyce smiled in appreciation, relishing in the rare victory over her daughter. "Good. Now, would you like some hot chocolate?"

Buffy's eyes lit up at the thought. "Do you have any marshmallows?" she asked.

The look on Joyce's face screamed 'duh!'. "You can't drink hot chocolate without them."

"In that case I'd love one."

Joyce smiled and went to the kitchen to make them, not bothering to ask Dawn because she knew what the answer would be. Dawn would drink nothing but hot chocolate if she could.

Once Joyce was out of earshot, Buffy turns to her sister. "You okay Dawn?" she asked concerned.

"Not really. I mean, I've always wanted to be special, to have a power like you. Now I have and I suddenly want to be normal again."

Buffy nodded in understanding; she had thought the exact same thing when she first found out that she was the Slayer.

"The saying 'The grass is always greener on the other side' is just that, a saying," she told her.

"I get that now."

They're both silent for a minute or two before Dawn started speaking again, her voice shaky. "I want you to know I'd be fine with it if you decided to go out with Xander."

The sudden change of topic threw Buffy for a loop. "Huh?"

"I like him, a _lot_. It's not a crush like you all think, but I know I'll never convince you of that. I want Xander to be happy and I _know_ that I could do that, but I want you to be happy too. If you two need to get together for that to happen, then I'll be fine with it."

Dawn was still hoping for a wedding with Xander, but if she were a bridesmaid at Buffy and Xander's wedding it wouldn't be the end of the world.

Buffy was shocked at how mature Dawn was acting, not seeing this side of her sister before. "I'm not sure anything is going to happen Dawn, but thank you anyway."

Dawn took note of the uncertainty in her sister's voice and her hopes of being Mrs. Dawn Harris dropped a little further. "You're welcome."

Joyce came back in with three mugs of hot chocolate with marshmallows.

"Thanks mom."

Buffy drank half of the contents in one gulp, enjoying the slight burning sensation as the hot liquid cascaded down her throat and smiled. "Ah, sweet chocolaty goodness."

Joyce and Dawn drink their hot chocolate in much the same manner, a tradition in the Summers household. 'Down half and sip the rest, this is how to drink chocolate best'.

All three women looked at their mugs strangely.

"Is there a strange aftertaste to either of you?" Buffy asked.

"Yes actually," Joyce replied, "I wonder what…"

Joyce looked dizzy for a moment and then slumped back onto the couch, dropping her mug on the floor.

Dawn put her mug down clumsily and leant towards her mother. "Mom, are you…"

Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she flopped down into her mother's lap, out cold. Buffy was also starting to feel drowsy, her slayer metabolism fighting whatever was affecting her but slowly losing. She managed to stand and walk a couple of steps before she too succumbed and fell to the floor with a thud.

The last thing she saw was Spike standing in the kitchen doorway with a smirk on his face. "Sweet dreams slayer."

Spike looked at the awkward position Dawn was in and sat her up to make her more comfortable. He brushed her hair out of her face and looked at her a little sadly. "I'm sorry little bit, but I can't change who I am. I know you won't be able to forgive me, but this is something I just have to do."

He shook off the feelings of guilt, then went over to Buffy and picked her up before walking out of the house to his car.

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Prue was sitting on the corner of her bed, looking at Xander as he slept. She wondered how someone with so much responsibility could look so innocent, wondering if she looked the same when she slept.

She heard a noise behind her and when she turned her head, she saw Piper standing in the doorway. "Prue, you must have the worst timing in the history of timing."

"What are you on about?" she asked her sister.

"You have a thing for Xander, don't you?"

Cursing herself for being caught out, she tried to hedge her bets. "Maybe."

"If you could have seen the way you were looking at him just now, I would say definitely would be closer to the truth. You do realise that he's barely said two words to you?"

Prue glared at her sister but there was no malice in it. Things had been beyond hectic the last few days and Xander barely had time to speak to any of them at length. "I know. I can't tell you what it is, I just felt this spark when I first saw him."

"Don't take this the wrong way but isn't he a little young for you? I mean he's not even old enough to drink yet."

Prue sighed, knowing she would be saying the exact same things if the roles were reversed. "Believe me I've thought the same thing. I would like to point out that he isn't exactly a child, he is twenty."

"That's beside the point and you know it. Forgetting the age difference, there's the fact he's just lost his girlfriend, and that there's a good chance he'll be moving back to Sunnydale once all this was over, and you don't exactly get the ingredients for a relationship."

"It sounded like he was going to move here," Prue said in way of stating her case, not that she had a case to state.

"He said that in the heat of the moment; he's too loyal to his friends to just leave them, whether they want him there or not. You don't have to speak to him long to realise that."

"Yeah, I know," she sighed.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Piper asked, not wanting her sister hurt if things didn't work out.

"I don't know, I just like the thought of being attracted to someone who is both a nice guy and in the know about what I do."

"The fact that he's cute has nothing to do with it?" she asked with a smirk.

A small smile appeared on Prue's face. "Well that might be a small factor. I'll wait for him to wake up and see how it goes."

"Just don't get your hopes up," she warned.

"I'm a big girl now Piper, I won't fall apart if he turns me down. That is if I even mention it."

Piper left and shut the door behind her. Prue went back to looking at Xander; she knew that nothing was probably going to happen between them, but that didn't mean she couldn't indulge herself in a little harmless ogling.


	16. Chapter Sixteen

_**Chapter Sixteen**_

**Summers Residence,  
Sunnydale,  
California,  
The Following Morning.**

Giles walked up to the Summers house, wanting to find out how Buffy's talk with Joyce and Dawn went and whether he could help at all with their latest revelation. When he saw that the front door was slightly open, he immediately knew that something was wrong and carefully made his way inside. When Giles spotted Joyce and Dawn motionless on the couch, he rushed over and checked on them both, wanting to make sure that they were still alive. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found heartbeats; they were slow but reassuringly steady.

He spotted Buffy's bag on the floor and quickly realised that she must have been taken, which meant that a very powerful sedative had to have been used, as Slayers had a very high resistance to most medications.

With Riley gone, Willow and Tara in class and Xander in San Francisco, Giles had no way of finding out where Buffy was until later today. He would have called on Angel and the others, but Angel had rung him last night and said that, after a rather heated discussion with Buffy, Cordelia wanted to go back to LA and 'forget that the blonde bitch ever existed'.

His priority at the moment however was to try and bring Joyce and Dawn round. Going into the kitchen to get the first aid kit, Giles quickly found the smelling salts and brought it back into the living room, using them on Joyce first. It took a few seconds, but she began to come to.

"Joyce?" he said to her, trying to give her something to focus on.

She blinked a couple of times before looking at him, although her eyes were still slightly glazed over. "Rupert, what's going on?" she asked groggily.

"I don't know, I came in to find you and Dawn out on the couch."

She looked over and saw her youngest daughter still unconscious next to her. "Dawn!"

Joyce went to shake her, but Giles put his hands on her shoulders to stop her. "Don't worry she's fine," he assured her, "but she's still under the influence of the sedatives."

"What sedatives?" she asked, her mind still a little unfocussed.

"I'm guessing that you must have taken some unknowingly. I wanted to wake you first as I suspect that Dawn will be a little confused when she comes to."

Giles then used the salts on Dawn and she slowly began coming around. Joyce looked around the room and noticed Buffy's absence.

"Where's Buffy?" she asked worriedly.

"I don't know," Giles replied, his tone tinged with concern also, "I think she may have been taken."

"Well find her!" Joyce shouted at him.

Dawn winced at her mother's raised voice. "Not so loud, I've got a splitting headache."

Joyce pulled Dawn gently into a hug. "I'm sorry honey."

Giles looked at them both apologetically. "You'll have that for a couple of days I'm afraid. These smelling salts are mystical in nature and although they work extremely well, they do leave you with a headache for a day or two." Giles turned to Joyce. "We'll get her back Joyce, I give you my word. Everything will be fine so don't worry."

"Who do you think took her?" she asked, trying to remain calm for Dawn's sake if no one else's.

"I have no idea, but I'll look through my books and see if there are any prophecies taking place in the next few days that someone wouldn't want stopped."

Joyce looks at Dawn and could tell that she was a little worse for wear. "Dawn, why don't you go on up to bed? I'll phone the school and explain why you're not there."

Dawn sat up and looked at her mom petulantly. "I don't want to go to bed, I want to help find Buffy!"

"Dawn, you'll be able to help later I promise, but right now you need to rest."

"But…"

Joyce cut her off. "No buts young lady, now go."

"Fine."

Dawn then trudged upstairs and slammed the door to her bedroom. Joyce sighed and shook her head slightly, wincing as it felt like someone was playing soccer with her brain.

"I'm glad you told me about the headache," she told Giles, "I'd start worrying that the tumour was coming back otherwise."

Giles nodded in understanding, headaches were the first indicator that something had been wrong with Joyce to begin with.

"Xander said everything was fine, as did Leo. If the headaches gets worse, or lasts longer than Dawn's, we'll get it checked out as a precaution, OK?"

Joyce smiled in appreciation. "OK. Is there nothing we can do to find Buffy at the moment?" she asked.

Giles shook his head. "I'm afraid not, there are spells that can be used to find her but I'm not powerful enough to do them myself."

"Then contact Willow and Tara and get them to do it now, my daughter could be dying somewhere!" she demanded, wanting her daughter back immediately.

"Joyce, Buffy is fine, of that I have no doubt."

"And why is that?" she asked, finding it strange that he could act so calm.

"To be brutally honest, if they wanted her dead they would have just killed her. They need her for some other purpose which means that for the mean time she is alive."

Joyce had thought the same thing, but it was difficult being rational when it has to do with your daughter. "I know that, but it doesn't stop me from worrying. You could still contact Willow and Tara."

"They have exams today otherwise I would, or rather I would ask you to."

"Why couldn't you?" she asked, wondering why he wasn't able to contact them himself.

Giles took his glasses off and began cleaning them. "I'd rather not talk about it."

**The Source's Lair,  
Demon Underworld.**

The Source was sitting on his throne pondering on how he might use the information he had just been given. For many centuries he has had a mole in the Elders realm, one of the reasons he has managed to evade the Charmed Ones and other do-gooders for so long, and they had just sent him some information regarding young Alexander.

Hearing that Alexander would be out of commission for the next day or so had some wonderful possibilities, although having the Power of Three guarding him did mean that he wasn't defenceless.

His thoughts were interrupted when Pretorius came into his lair, bending down on one knee once he was ten feet away as was protocol.

"My lord, I have news on William the Bloody's progress. He has captured the Slayer Elizabeth and is en route to this location," he informed his master.

"Excellent news Pretorius, excellent news. In your opinion, who are my three strongest assassins?" he asked his second.

He stood before answering. "Gregor, Milligan and Forbes my lord. May I know why you ask?"

"Of course, I want you to send them to kill Alexander," he informed him with a smile that was anything but humorous.

"But my lord, he is impervious to their powers so what would be…"

A bolt of energy cut him off as it hit him in the chest, sending him flying into the far wall.

"Know your place Pretorius," the Source growled. "I allow you many liberties being my second, but there are limits to my tolerance."

"Yes my lord, my apologies. I shall send them immediately."

Pretorius then scurried away, leaving the Source alone.

"You just can't get the staff these days."

**Demon Underworld.**

Pretorius walked into the main congregation area of the underworld. This was the place you go to tell stories of the people you've killed and the destruction you've caused. It's also the place you go when you've got nothing else to do, waiting until it's time to feed again or for the Source to give them a task to perform.

He saw the three people he wanted to speak to, all seated together in the farthest corner of the room. There wasn't anyone within six feet of them and for good reason, as they were all extremely powerful and known for their short tempers.

He walked up to them and sat down in the empty seat. "Gregor, Milligan, Forbes. I have a task for you and this comes straight from the Source."

Pretorius smiled slightly at the unintended pun, and his smile increased as he saw all three sit up straight and bow their heads slightly in acknowledgement. Gregor, widely known as the leader of the trio, was the one to speak.

"What would he like us to do?" he asked, not liking to be as close to Pretorius as he was at the moment.

He, just like everyone, obeyed the Source's commands, but he didn't like those that could only be described as brown nosers, Pretorius being a notable example.

"He wants you to eliminate 'The One Who Sees'."

Pretorius could see that they were all extremely unhappy with the task they had been given, seeing it as a suicide mission. Pretorius wasn't sure whether he disagreed or not, but it wasn't his place to consider things like that.

"How can we do that, our powers are useless against him!" Gregor shouted.

"At the moment he is vulnerable to physical attack, the perfect time for you to strike." The three looked slightly more confident at the news, but still worried.

"He is still protected by the Charmed Ones," Milligan growled, showing that he did indeed have the capacity to speak.

Pretorius didn't want to get angry with them, as although he was the Source's second, between them they were still quite capable of killing him before he had a chance to move. Instead he decided to use their pride against them.

"Are you afraid of a few witches?" he asked, taunting them by the implication.

Seeing that as a challenge, Gregor immediately went on the defensive. "No! We are afraid of nothing!"

Pretorius smiled in victory. "Then I do not see your problem." He stood and turned to leave. "Come back when you've achieved your task, or do not come back at all."

**UC Sunnydale,  
Sunnydale,  
California.**

Tara and Willow walked out of their Maths exam, Tara looking calm but Willow looked like she was about to explode.

"I totally bombed during that exam!" Willow exclaimed, looking mortified.

"I'm sure everything will be fine Willow," Tara said trying to calm her girlfriend down, "you always do well on tests."

"This is different, I was so rushed that I had to round the last answer to eleven decimal places!"

Tara just looks at her for a few moments, blinking a few times before responding. "You call that _rushed_? I doubt that there were more than two people in there, including you, that even knew you could _get_ to eleven decimal places."

Willow blushed slightly and managed to calm herself down. "I am overreacting a little aren't I?"

Tara moved her forefinger and thumb so they were about a centimetre apart. "Just a bit, but you look adorable when you do it so I don't mind."

Willow kissed Tara lightly on the lips before turning on her cell. Once it started up, she saw that she had voicemail message. Dialling her messaging service, she quickly found out that the message was from Giles, asking them to get to the Magic Box as soon as they could.

"Giles needs us at the Magic Box ASAP."

"ASAP? You've been watching Tour of Duty re-runs again haven't you?" Tara asked in a mock accusing tone.

"Maybe," Willow replied sheepishly.

Tara smiled at her girlfriend and put her arm around her shoulders. "Come on, let's see what Giles wants."

They then started walking towards the Magic Box.

**Magic Box,  
Sunnydale,  
California,  
Fifteen minutes later.**

The bell on the door indicated Willow and Tara's arrival, where they found Giles, Joyce and Dawn looking through books. They knew something was wrong immediately because Joyce never helped out, as Buffy didn't like her mom getting too involved.

"Hey Giles, we got your message. What's going on?" Willow asked worriedly.

"Last night someone drugged Buffy, Joyce and Dawn at their house and took Buffy away. We need to work out where she is."

Willow was incensed that Giles waited until now to tell her that her best friend had been kidnapped. "Why didn't you contact us sooner!" she snapped at him, her eyes darkening slightly.

"The last time I went on campus, the guards threw me off saying 'they don't need old men leering at the female students' and if I went back they'd have me arrested."

"When did this happen?" Joyce asked, having been intrigued about why he hadn't contacted them since that morning.

"It was when we were trying to find that demon that would attach itself to its victim and feed off of their positive emotions. We had to cast a spell that allowed us to see the demon as it camouflages itself…"

Realisation showed on Willow's face and she continued the story. "… And we were all trying to find it by looking over all the students."

Everybody tried unsuccessfully not to laugh, Giles waiting patiently until they'd finished before speaking, all the while wondering what he must have done in a previous life to warrant such ridicule.

"Quite. As you both have to keep your cell phones off during exams, there was nothing else we could do."

Willow had calmed down slightly but was still angry for not being told sooner. "You could have sent Joyce," she pointed out, not liking being wrong about anything.

"Both Joyce and Dawn were feeling the after effects of the enchanted salts I used to bring them round, as they were both still unconscious when I arrived at the house. As well as that, they wouldn't have let her disrupt your exam even if she could have gone without telling them what was going on."

Willow could understand that, the last thing they needed was for Sunnydale's idea of law enforcement to get involved. Her anger left as quickly as it arrived and she smiled apologetically at Giles. "OK, sorry I snapped at you Giles."

"It's alright, we're all stressed at the moment. We've had a lot to deal with in a short space of time, which makes rational thought harder to utilise. Now you're here, I'd like for you and Tara to try a locating spell."

They both nodded, eager to be of help.

"Sure, we'll get right on it," Tara replied for the both of them.

They both went over and gave Joyce and Dawn hugs, then started to gather the supplies they would need.

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Phoebe came into the kitchen and sat down next to Piper, who was preparing dinner. "So Prue's got a thing for Xander huh?" she asked saucily.

Piper nearly sliced through her finger instead of the carrot she was chopping. She glared at Phoebe for a couple of seconds before a smile adorned her lips and she continued her preparations.

"Eavesdropper."

Phoebe smiled unapologetically. "If I didn't eavesdrop I'd never find out anything. She knows nothing can happen right?" she asked, hoping that her sister wasn't setting herself up for a fall.

"Yeah," Piper replied, "but that doesn't mean she has to like it."

"I know I wouldn't."

"Neither would I."

A blast was heard in the living room, followed by a ball of energy that flew between them, singeing the stray hairs on their heads. Piper grabbed Phoebe by the arm and dragged her under the counter.

"Get down!" she hissed to her.

"You don't say? I thought I'd get in the way of the next one and try to catch it!" Phoebe exclaimed sarcastically. "Can you freeze them?" she asked.

"I have to be able to see them to do that, which means that they'll be able to see me."

"What are we going to do then?" she asked her sister.

They looked at each other and nodded before shouting in unison.

"Leo!"

**Prue's bedroom,  
Same Time.**

Prue was once again looking at Xander. She had followed her less than innocent impulses and slept beside him last night, allowing her to rationalise it that it was her bed after all and she was entitled to sleep in it. Doing that had allowed her to quantify the romantic feelings she had felt for him.

She soon realised that it was less to do with him and more to do with her own feelings of loneliness. She still felt an attraction to him, but her own issues had exaggerated it. The thought of dating him still felt good, but she now knew that if nothing came of it, it wouldn't exactly be soul shattering.

She suddenly felt a slight gust of wind behind her and knowing that the windows were closed, she moved as fast as possible and pulled Xander off the bed, which was nothing but a fiery mess an instant later.

"I'm sorry about the bed," the demon told her, his tone indicating that he was nothing but. "I really wanted to test whether he could really be hurt by our powers. Don't try to cast any spells on me witch, I'll blast you before…"

He didn't get to finish his sentence, as with a flick of her wrist Prue sent the demon crashing through the bedroom window. She heard explosions downstairs and then her sisters calling for Leo and sighed gratefully, knowing that help was on the way.

**Kitchen.**

Leo appeared in his usual flash of lights but quickly moved to dodge an energy ball. He ducked under the counter with the sisters.

"Who are they?" Piper asked her fiancé.

Leo went to answer but Cole shimmered in and beat him to it. "Gregor, Milligan and Forbes. They're assassins, the best there is now I don't count. Somehow the Source heard about Xander and seized the opportunity."

He stood and fired an energy ball of his own at the two, but they managed to dodge out of the way before returning fire, causing Cole to duck back under the counter.

"How did you know to come?" Phoebe asked.

"Those three are arrogant bastards; they give off a lot of power when they shift and don't bother to mask it. I felt them coming here and knew you'd need my help."

Piper was the first to realise their priority. "We have to get Xander out of here!"

Cole nodded in agreement and quickly thought of a plan. "I'll take him to one of my hideouts, but we'll need a diversion. These guys aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer but they will know what Xander looks like."

Leo smiled. "I think I can come up with something." Leo then changed form to look like Xander. "We'll take the car and lead them away, you need to go get Xander and tell Prue the plan."

Cole nodded then went and hugged Phoebe. "Be careful," he told her seriously.

"Aren't I always?" she asked playfully.

"I'm not going to answer that as it might incriminate me."

"Ever the lawyer."

Piper cleared her throat. "Can we save the chit chat and get out of here?"

Cole smiled in apology before he shimmered up to the bedroom.

**Bedroom.**

Cole shimmered in and nearly got blown out the same window as the assassin before Prue stopped herself.

"You really need to wear a bell or something you know that?" she asked him angrily, more with herself than with him.

"I'll certainly consider it," he said dryly. "We have a plan, you need to get downstairs and go with the others in the car."

Her eyes darted to Xander. "What about Xander?"

"I'm taking him somewhere safe."

She cast him a look that could cut diamonds like butter. "You take care of him or you'll have me to deal with."

He once again thanked his lucky stars that he was now one of the good guys. "For what it's worth you have my word."

She thought for a moment then looked shocked about something. "Surprisingly, that means a lot."

She ran downstairs to meet the others while Cole picked Xander up off the floor and shimmered away.

**Kitchen.**

Leo/Xander, Piper and Phoebe were still pinned down by the two remaining demons when they suddenly heard two loud crashes. Phoebe risked a sneak peek and saw Prue running towards them, grabbing the keys to the car on the way.

"What are you waiting for?" Prue asked the others as she rushed past them.

Not needing to be told twice, everybody got up and ran outside and round to the car. They all piled in, Prue jumping into the driver's seat and somehow managing to turn the ignition before sitting down. The engine roared into life after a couple of tense moments, made all the worse as they saw that all three demons were now preparing to attack. With a screech of rubber the car pulled away, receiving a glancing blow from an energy ball fired by one of the demons.

"Drive!" Phoebe shouted to her sibling.

"What do you think I'm doing Phoebe!?" Prue shouted back in irritation.

"Drive faster then!"

Not seeing a problem with that, Prue put her foot to the floor. By this point, all three demons were together outside the manor.

"What shall we do Gregor?" Milligan asked.

"They all emit large power signatures as you well know Milligan," Gregor informed his two associates, "so tracking them will not be difficult. Once we find them, we shall crush their bones under our heels."

"The telekinetic is mine," Forbes growled, "I want to make her pay for knocking me through that window."

"It was your own fault for talking too much Forbes," Gregor berated the assassin, "I have always told you to never give an enemy time to think."

Forbes growled slightly. "I still want retribution."

"Fine, the witch is yours, it isn't as though there isn't enough of them to go around." The sound of sirens filled Gregor's ears and he realised that it was time to depart. "Let us begin our search for them."

The other two nodded their assent and they all vanished from sight.

**The Magic Box,  
Sunnydale,  
California.**

Everybody was sitting around the table staring at a blank piece of paper. Giles looked at the two witches. "Are you sure that you did the spell correctly?" he asked them.

"Giles," Tara replied, her tone tinged ever so slightly with irritation, "we did the spell twice and the results were negative both times."

Joyce was confused and more than a little frightened by what was going on. "What does that mean?" she asked them.

"It means that whoever has her is blocking the spell," Giles informed her.

"So it doesn't mean she's dead?" she asked, feeling relieved.

Realising what Joyce took her to mean by getting a negative result, Tara was quick to allay her fears.

"No! The way the spell works is that it basically gives us a map to the location of the object or person you're looking for. If the person were dead, the spell would give us a black page. We're getting nothing, which means that the spell is being blocked."

Joyce sighed, thankful that the spell hadn't told her that her worst nightmare, one of her daughters dying, had come true. Seeing that they were basically back to square one, Dawn decided to tell them something that has been bothering her since Giles had woken her up.

"Giles, I might be wrong but I think I heard Spike's voice last night. I didn't say anything before as I didn't want to distract you."

Giles smiled at the young teen, trying to convey that she'd done nothing wrong. He then tried to keep his voice as neutral as possible when he spoke, not wanting his anger towards the vampire misinterpreted as anger towards her.

"What did he say?" he asked her.

"That he was sorry and that he had to do it. He took her didn't he?" she asked sadly.

"I don't know Dawn," Giles told her truthfully, "but I'm going to find out."

**The Source's lair,  
Demon Underworld.**

Spike was standing in front of the Source, holding Buffy in a fireman's carry. He'd had to sedate her twice since leaving Sunnydale, as her metabolism was burning the drugs in her system much faster than any normal person could ever do.

As a precaution, he'd also been injecting her with the serum Giles used during her Cruciamentum, having found the bottle of liquid during on of his raids of Giles' apartment for money. By now, even if she did come to, Buffy wouldn't pose much more of a threat than any other human, which as far as spike was concerned was no threat at all.

When he arrived at the rendezvous and was then brought to this room, he had been looking forward to receiving his reward, the complete removal of his chip. He could then return to being the Big Bad, William the Bloody, one quarter of the Scourge of Europe. It has been the one thing he had been dreaming of since the moment he first found out he was unable to harm humans; that he would once again be able to revel in his true nature.

The only doubt in his mind had been to do with Dawn, the one human that he genuinely cared for, but the feeling of guilt for betraying and hurting her was consumed by the desire to be whole again. He still wanted the chip removed, but the thrill had been tainted slightly.

He had been standing there now for five minutes, waiting for the Source to speak, and was beginning to get impatient. The only reason he had said nothing yet was that he knew the Source could kill him with but a look. He decided that he simply couldn't stand the silence any longer and went to speak, but the Source begans talking before he could open his mouth.

"So William, you've managed to procure Elizabeth for me? I must say that I am impressed with the speed you were able to accomplish your tasks."

Spike let Buffy drop to the floor, showing complete disregard for her well-being. "The sooner I did it the sooner I get this sodding chip out. Speaking of which…"

"Ah yes, your reward for services rendered. You have kept up your part of the bargain, so I will keep mine. However, I never said when I would remove the chip, only that I would. I would like you to be my guest for the duration of Elizabeth's stay, as I'm sure that you would like to see the final moment's of her and Alexander's lives."

Spike wanted to shout at the Source, but he decided to use his brain for once and chose his words very carefully. "There's nothing I'd like more than to see Droopy and the bint dead at my feet, except for having this chip out of course."

The Source recognised what Spike was doing but decided to do nothing in retaliation, realising from the research he had done on the vampire that he was making an extreme effort to control his temper, something he wasn't known for. The Source enjoyed the fear he had instilled in the vampire, and considered keeping him around for a little longer.

"I made a deal with you William and I will keep my end of it, but not until I have dealt with Alexander." He snapped his fingers and Pretorius walked into the room, bowing respectfully before standing beside Spike. "Pretorius will show you to the communal area, we have a wide selection of blood types available so feel free to indulge yourself."

Realising that was the end of the conversation, and that the Source would kill him in an instant if he disagreed, Spike resigned himself to waiting a little longer for his chip to be removed and followed Pretorius out of the room, leaving Buffy alone with the Source.

With a wave of his hand the Source woke her, waiting for her to get her bearings before speaking. When Buffy opened her eyes, she noticed that she was on the floor of a room she did not recognise, and found that when she tried to mover her hands to get up that they were bound behind her. She struggled to break free but found that she was unable, her strength gone from her.

It was only now that she began to panic, remembering the last time she felt this weak during her eighteenth birthday. When she looked up she found a man looking down at her, a warm smile adorning his face. She knew however that this man had anything but warm intentions.

"How are you feeling Elizabeth?" he asked her pleasantly.

She decided to play along, giving her senses time to come back fully. "Like I've got the entire population of Holland clog dancing in my head."

A look of sympathy appeared on the mans face, but once again Buffy could tell his true feelings were anything but what they appeared to be. "I'm afraid there isn't a lot I can do about that my dear, unless you'd like for me to destroy Holland for you?" he asked, Buffy finding that she was unable to tell whether he was joking or not.

Not wanting to answer that one way or the other, she asked the three questions that had been prevalent in her mind from the moment she came to. "Who are you, where am I, and what do you want from me?" she asked firmly.

"Ah, cutting straight to the point I see. Well my dear I am the Source, I'm sure you've heard of me."

"Yeah, you're the guy that's going to get your ass kicked by Xander," she said with a smile.

"I believe that we have a difference of opinion on that," he informed her, his smile dimming slightly, "however I won't waste time in arguing the point with you. As for your other questions, you are in my humble abode and I want to use you as a bargaining tool."

"Huh?"

The Source laughed slightly at her confusion, the first genuine thing he had done so far. "You do like to live up to the Californian girl stereotype don't you? Since learning about Alexander's status, I took the liberty of conducting some research about the young man. One thing that is strikingly obvious is that young Alexander would do anything for his friends, including sacrificing his own life. It is both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness, a weakness that I am going to exploit to my advantage."

Buffy smiled sadly. "I hate to break this to you, but right at this moment I'm probably second on his list of people he hates the most, you just pipped me to the post when you killed Anya."

"I think you overestimate his anger towards you my dear. My research shows that unless you were to kill young Willow Rosenberg or one of the other 'Scooby's' he could never hate you, for long anyway. It just isn't in his nature."

"I believe that we have a difference of opinion on that, however I won't waste time in arguing the point with you."

A thin smile adorned his face at hearing his own words used against him. "Touché my dear. I feel that both of our differences in opinion will be decided one way or another quite soon."


	17. Chapter Seventeen

_**Chapter Seventeen**_

**Unknown location,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Cole opened the door to a small one-room apartment in a rundown tower block on the edge of the city. There was nothing in the apartment apart from a bed, a chair and a small desk. Of course, the room was so small that even with those few items it looked cluttered. In his arms was Xander, still asleep due to the Elders spell.

"It isn't much but it's home. You should feel privileged," the half demon told his slumbering companion, "you're the first ever guest to Casa Turner."

Cole put Xander on the bed then sat down in the chair next to it after a couple of seconds to relax his bones. Xander wasn't heavy, but he had been shimmering from one location to another to ensure no one was tracking them and he felt tired.

On an impulse he turned to Xander and started talking. "I have three or four of these places around the city, all untraceable and known to no one. It's a constant struggle, keeping away from the trackers that are after me while making Phoebe think that it's not that big a deal. If she knew then she would want me to be more careful, which would mean seeing her less often, something I simply cannot do. Then there's Belthazor, he's been the controlling half for nearly my entire life until I met Phoebe. For nearly a hundred years he did whatever he wanted whenever he wanted, apart from when the Source had a task for him to perform. I had never had a reason to fight him for control until I met Phoebe, nor did I have the strength. Now I am the one in control and keeping him in check is harder than I make out. I sometimes wonder if I'll succumb to the urges his presence brings."

Cole stopped talking for a moment and shook his head slightly, a small smile on his lips. "I don't even know why I'm saying anything, maybe it's because you can't talk back. Phoebe means well, but sometimes I just like to talk without having to analyse everything, I'm guessing it's a woman thing." He got up stretched his muscles slightly. "I need to find Phoebe and the others, I know who's after them and they'll need all the help they can get. You'll be safe here and I'll be back soon."

Cole then left the apartment to find the others, leaving Xander sleeping soundly on the bed.

**Hyperion Hotel,  
Los Angeles,  
California.**

Cordelia was sitting at what used to be the reception desk of the hotel, reapplying her nail varnish whilst trying to stay awake, as she had barely slept the last few days and when she had it couldn't exactly be called restful.

She was startled when the phone begins ringing, almost causing her to spill the bottle of varnish all over the counter. She put the top back on and answered the phone. "Angel Investigations, we help the helpless."

"Hello Cordelia."

Cordelia smiled upon hearing the voice. "Hi Giles, what's up?" she asked.

"Buffy's been abducted and we think that Spike is involved. We've tried a locator spell but it is being blocked somehow," he informed her bluntly, feeling too tired to beat around the bush.

Cordelia knew this was bad, as the last time anyone had taken Buffy it was the Council and she had barely made it. Having the Hellmouth unprotected, not to mention Dawn, was definitely a bad thing.

"What can we do?"

"We're going to be checking here to see if he's holed up somewhere…"

She finished his sentence for him. "… And you want us to do the same here in LA."

"Precisely."

"We'll get right on it and let you know if we find anything," she stated firmly.

She could hear Giles sighing in relief. "Thank you Cordelia. I must say your willingness to help is a little surprising."

She couldn't really blame him for his surprise, as the reason they left Sunnydale so quickly was due to her dislike of Buffy. But disliking someone is a long way away from wanting someone dead.

"I may not like her, but I don't want anything to happen to her. Anyway, Xander would kill me if he found out I wouldn't help find his _precious_ Buffy."

She smiled as she could almost see Giles pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I'm not sure what you mean," he said evasively.

Cordelia rolled her eyes, and then remembered that he couldn't see her. "You know exactly what I mean so don't try that with me. You're more observant than you let on, you're just too _British_ to say anything about it."

"Why must you use my nationality as an insult?" he asked.

She could hear the mirth in his voice; he knew she didn't mean anything by it.

"Because it's so easy," she teased. "I'll speak to you soon and be careful; Spike may be chipped but he's still dangerous, this proves it."

"I know, but so am I," he replied. "Be sure you take your own advice."

"It's the only advice worth listening to," she informed him superiorly.

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Lieutenant Darryl Morris had driven to the manor as fast as he could as he heard the report on the radio. It seemed that the neighbours were particularly observant today and had called the police about the explosions and, oh yes, the man flying out of a window.

He checked the scene for any of his friends, hoping against hope that there wouldn't be any body bags waiting for him. When he found nothing he sighed in relief and, making sure nobody was close enough to listen in, rang Prue's car phone. He breathed another sigh of relief when it's answered.

"Hello?"

"Prue, it's Darryl. Do you know that your house looks like a slab of Swiss cheese?" he asked.

She laughed at his question, although it wasn't all that happy sounding. "Yeah, we've got some assassin trouble."

That was definitely not a good thing and he was instantly worried for his friends, Darryl had hoped that they had already dealt with whatever it was that caused the damage.

"Anything I can do?" he asked, a touch nervously. Anything that could have driven the Charmed Ones off was definitely not conducive to his health.

"You can tell us somewhere safe to stay for a little while so we can regroup," she replied. "Oh, we might need the Book as well if you can get it."

He thought for a few seconds, and then remembered a good place for them to hide out in. "There's a building on Gould Street, we closed the club there for dealing drugs a while ago and no ones taken it over yet. As for the Book, I'll do my best but there are a lot of cops here so it might be difficult without having to answer a lot of awkward questions. I'll ring you when I can then I'll meet you there."

"Thanks," she told him gratefully. "Once we've got everything sorted we'll explain what's been going on the last few days."

"Why do I have the feeling that will be a long conversation?" he asked as he looked at the manor.

He could almost hear her smile at the other end of the line. "Because you're a good detective. Speak to you soon."

**Abandoned building,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

When they arrived at the club, they could see why it hadn't been taken over by anyone. The place was a dump and it looked like a gentle breeze could knock it down, but they were only going to be there a while so it didn't really matter.

With a flick of her wrist Prue forced open the front door and they all went inside. The inside was no better than the outside, it looked like it hadn't been cleaned since prohibition and it smelt like an entire litter of cats had peed on every piece of furniture.

"It isn't exactly the Ritz but it will have to do."

Everybody span around to the source of the noise and found Cole sitting at one of the booths at the far side of the club. Phoebe ran over and hugged him before pulling him into a very passionate kiss that left them both breathless for several moments.

Once she got her breath back, Phoebe looked up at him with a puzzled expression. "How did you get here so fast?" she asked.

He smiled down at her, giving her a quick peck on the lips before responding. "I decided to refresh my memory on how I used to find you; you all send out large power signature just like those assassins, the only difference being that they don't bother to mask it where as you have never learnt how. I actually got here the same time you did, you were too intrigued by the décor to notice."

"I'm guessing that the assassins will be able to do the same thing, track us I mean?"

"Yep, but not as well as myself of course," he replied with a smirk. "I've put a few false trails here and there but it won't fool them forever, we'll have a few hours max before they find us."

Prue came up to him. "How's Xander?" she asked.

He smiles warmly at her, realizing that it might have been the first time he did so and meant it. "He's fine, I left him nice and comfy on a bed."

Prue nodded her head and moved back.

Cole looked at them all in turn. "Any thoughts on how we deal with the assassins?"

He'd quickly learnt that they had to be the ones to make the decisions, he had his own ideas but they were a little more… pro-active in nature.

"We've got Darryl to get the book," Prue replied, "he'll bring it to us as soon as he's able so we'll be able to work out a way to vanquish them."

He nodded in agreement, as he had no doubt that there would be a potion in there to vanquish them, there was one for him after all.

Time however was a factor. "But whether you'll be able to do it in time is a different matter."

Prue rolled her eyes. "Every silver lining has a cloud in your world doesn't it?"

Cole just smiled at her. "No, in my world some of the clouds don't even have silver linings."

Phoebe glared at her sister whilst hitting Cole on the arm at the same time. Before she had a chance to say anything, Xander/Leo beat her to it.

"Will you two stop with the bickering? Cole is right that we might not have a lot of time, but if we do need to create a potion, we could just get him to shimmer over to the manor and collect what we need."

Cole just continued smiling but Prue bowed her head a little. "Sorry Leo, it's just getting to me. This is the first time that we've actually had to leave the manor and hide from a demon."

Leo/Xander puts his hand on her shoulder and squeezed slightly. He always thought this would happen; this wasn't the first time that the sisters had come off worse from a demon attack, but it was the first time they had been forced from their home, their sanctuary. It must be a very sobering experience to finally realise that nowhere had a guarantee of safety.

"These aren't normal demons, they're very good at what they do. The fact you're still breathing after an encounter with them puts you in a very exclusive club," he informed them, a touch of pride entering his voice.

Prue looks around the room they were in and scrunched up her face in disgust. "It's put me in a very skanky club as well."

"There is that," Piper said with a smile.

Cole had been listening in and decided that he needed to apologise, something that he wasn't used to, but if he wanted to enforce his human side he'd have to learn. He went over to Prue and carefully put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm… sorry Prue," Cole began, "I didn't mean to start an argument. I guess I still need to learn when to keep my mouth shut."

She could see how difficult it was for him to say that, having guessed that apologies aren't part of a demon's repertoire. That being said, she wasn't going to make it easy on him.

"No arguments here," she replied.

"I may have sounded pessimistic but I've dealt with them before, they don't know the meaning of the word finesse but they do get the job done. They're not very bright which makes them predictable, but their strength makes up for their intelligence. They're strangely loyal to each other, which is something we can use to our advantage. If we can take one out they'll become distracted and vulnerable. I can go one on one with any of them and come out on top, but I have no chance against all three. If you find a way to distract them in the Book of Shadows we'll have ourselves the beginnings of a plan."

"Right, I'll go get the phone from the car for when Darryl rings."

Prue then makes her way to the car.

**Alibi Room,  
Sunnydale,  
California.**

Giles kicks in the door and stalks towards the bar, carrying a crossbow and looking like a bomb waiting to go off. The demons frequenting the bar sense that the ex-watcher was not in the mood for niceties so wisely give him a wide berth.

"Willy, I need to know where Spike is and I need to know now!" he growled.

Willy, by now needing a fresh set of underwear, immediately denied all knowledge, something he always did whether it was true or not.

"I don't know anything, honest!" he squeaked.

Giles slammed his fist on the bar, shaking the glasses that were on it. "Don't give me that Willy, nothing happens in this town without you knowing."

Willy thought his spine was coming out of his ass he was shaking so much. He'd heard stories of how Giles had been in his youth, but had never had the 'pleasure' of seeing it with his own eyes. He dearly hoped he never did again.

"I swear on my mother's life I don't know where he is!" he screamed.

Giles sneered at him. "I'm surprised you even had a mother."

His survival instincts were overridden by his instinct to protect his mother's honour. "Hey!" Giles glared at him and he shut up. "I like your slayer, I really do. If I knew where she or Spike was I would tell you, honest!"

Giles looked at him intently, his eyes almost boring through Willy's skull, until he nodded once in acceptance of his words. "I'll take your word for it, but if I find out you knew and didn't tell me…" Suddenly Giles span round and fired a crossbow bolt into the chest of a vampire, dusting it instantly. "… I shall be _very_ displeased."

Willy just nodded dumbly before Giles stalked out of the bar.

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Darryl had been waiting around for nearly an hour for the right time to go up to the attic for the Book of Shadows, waiting for everybody to leave so that he could retrieve it without having to answer too many questions, questions that he wouldn't be able to answer. It wasn't as though he could tell them that the three sisters that lived there were the world's most powerful witches and that they were being chased by demonic assassins sent by a malevolent evil called the Source.

He'd known about their family legacy for a couple of years now, and he still had problems getting his head around it all. The important thing at the moment was that his friends were in trouble and he had to help all he could.

Seeing his opportunity, as all but the beat cop left to guard the place had left, he sneaks upstairs and uses the spare key they had given him for emergencies to unlock the door to the attic.

There in the middle of the room stood the book that had helped his friends save the lives of countless people over the years, and he had to be counted several times over. He tentatively put his hands on the book, knowing that if it didn't like him it would state it quite forcefully.

When his hands make contact with the book he sighed in relief that he hadn't been thrown across the room or incinerated on the spot. He picked it up and put it in the bag he brought with him, marvelling at how a book that big could weigh so little. He then left the attic, locking the door behind him so no one can get in and nose around before going back downstairs.

He'd almost made it out of the door when a hand gripped his shoulder and turned him round. It was the cop looking after the place.

"What are you… sorry Lieutenant I didn't know it was you."

"Don't worry about it, I just wanted to make sure everything was secure before I left. You're doing a good job."

The officer smiled. "Thanks Lieutenant."

Darryl just nodded before walking out the front door to his car and getting in. He mentally sighed in relief that the officer was pretty green, as they don't feel right asking questions of superior officers until they had more field time.

He dialled Prue's car phone, and it was answered before the first ring ended. "Darryl?" Prue asked quickly.

"Yeah Prue it's me, I've got the book and I'll be there in about fifteen minutes."

He heard her sigh in relief. "That's good to hear, we'll explain all when you get here."

"And once you do I'm sure to be wishing you hadn't."

"A word of advice; we've got a new friend who's in the same line of business as us and he really doesn't like people using the 'W' word around him. He's not here with us at the moment but I thought I'd better warn you."

"Why?" he asked.

"Not my story to tell, but it's a _very_ touchy subject at the moment."

"OK, I'll remember that. I'll see you soon."

**Hyperion Hotel,  
Los Angeles,  
California.**

Cordelia had just finished filling Angel and the others in on the situation with Buffy and Angel was taking it as well as she thought he would. Badly.

"That _bastard_! When I find him I'll tie his balls to a cross on the tallest building I can find and leave him there for the sunrise!"

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Don't hold back there Angel, say what you really mean."

"I'll dip a stake in holy water and shove it up his _ass_!"

Wesley tried his hand at calming him down. "We're not certain that it was him, after all Buffy had told him to leave Sunnydale or get dusted."

"I'll stick him through a meat slicer feet first!"

The others could see that they weren't going to get anywhere, so they left him to his rant.

Gunn turned to Wesley. "Where do you think we should start looking Wes?" he asked the Englishman.

"I'll tattoo a cross on his scrotum!"

"Gunn, contact your crew and give them the 411. Make sure you warn them at how dangerous Spike can be; he's killed two slayers in his time and he got the name Spike because he liked to use railway spikes to kill his victims. I'll contact my sources in the magic business and check if they've had anyone buy ingredients to block locator spells in the last few days. Cordelia, stay here in case any of us find anything or if Giles has any news."

Gunn and Cordelia nod in agreement. Gunn and Wesley go off to do their bits and Cordelia went back to the phone.

"I'll force him to watch Teletubbies re-runs!"

Cordelia winced at that last one. "That's going a bit far don't you think?" she asked, thinking that not even _Spike_ deserved such a fate.

Angel glared at her with such intensity that she actually stepped back. "_No_!" he roared before stalking away.

**Abandoned building,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Darryl had got to the club half an hour ago and right now he was just allowing everything he had been told to sink in. While Leo/Xander and the sisters were going through the book for ways to vanquish Gregor, Milligan and Forbes, Cole had been given the task of filling him in on the situation.

"Let me see if I've got this straight; your new friend Xander is destined to destroy the Source. The Source isn't happy about that so he's sent three assassins to kill him while he's asleep. He's asleep because the Elders have given him the knowledge required so he can use his powers to their full potential and he needs time to assimilate it all. The reason they gave him the knowledge is because he's not only got the Source to deal with, he's got a goddess from a hell dimension after him as well. To keep him safe from the assassins, Leo is assuming his form while you've taken him somewhere for safe keeping until the assassins are dealt with. That about cover it?"

Cole smiled in amusement. "Pretty much."

"You know I've heard some out there things over the years, but this has to be the most out there story so far. What makes it worse is that I believe you, finally cementing my insanity."

Cole's smile widened. "At least when they put you in the straightjacket you know we'll all be there with you."

"How very comforting," he came back with sarcastically.

"I know, that's why I said it."

Darryl decided to change the subject slightly. "So where is Xander?" he asked, wanting to meet the man that has had more dumped on him in the last few days than most people would experience in several lifetimes.

"Somewhere safe as I said. I'm not telling anyone where he is, the less people that know the better."

Having dealt with the Witness Protection Programme before, Darryl could understand why. "I get that. So what are we going to do about those guys after Xander?" he asked, knowing that whatever else happened, having people as dangerous as those three creating havoc in the city was definitely not of the good.

Suddenly, as though they were all part of some story instead of the real world, the demons in question blast through the front wall, obliterating it completely.

"I don't know but we better do it fast!" Cole shouted.

Everybody ducked for cover as the assassins started blanket bombing the club with energy balls. Cole did his best to return the favour, but three against one was not good odds.

As both Piper and Prue needed to be able to see what they wanted to use their powers against, they were unable to do anything as their pinned behind an upturned table, using it as a makeshift shield.

Cole shouted over to them. "Have you found out how to vanquish them?" he asked urgently.

"There's a potion…"

Cole cut Piper off. "No ingredients and no time for that!" he quickly reminded them.

She sighed and nodded. "I know, we'll just have to wing it!"

Cole actually smiled at that, as it meant that he didn't have to follow the usual constraints that the others liked to put him in. He fired several energy balls in quick succession, using less care and more power than he had before, and it paid off as one of them caught Milligan slightly on the shoulder and sent him sprawling outside.

Milligan landed just in front of a young woman and a boy. "Get out of my way!" he roared at them.

He shoved the boy out of the way, knocking him down. The young woman stood in front of him, in an effort to defend the young boy from further harm.

"Leave him alone you big jerk!" she shouted, glaring at him whilst trying to keep control of her bladder.

Milligan glared at her and she took a step back before turning to the boy. "Jimmy, run back to mommy and daddy for me OK?" she asked as calmly as she could.

The boy nodded quickly, tears streaming down his cheeks, before running away as fast as his legs could carry him. Before she could turn back to face him, Milligan grabbed her by the throat and pulled her towards him.

"You've just been upgraded from nuisance to shield," he hissed in her ear.

Milligan laughed at the fear he could sense pouring out of the woman before dragging her along with him into the club.

"If you don't show yourselves right now," he said to Cole and the others, "I'm going to break this pretty little thing's neck."

Darryl spoke first, his hostage negotiation skills coming back to him. "How do we know you won't kill her anyway?"

Milligan smiled but it looked more like a sneer. "You don't, but you can't really take the chance can you?" he said, increasing the pressure on the woman's neck causing her to scream in pain.

Cole turned to Darryl. "When I give you the signal, I want you to shoot him right between the eyes."

"Two things," Darryl said nervously, "one; I'm not that good a shot. Two, I thought a bullet wouldn't kill a demon."

"It won't, but it will distract him enough to let her go so I can kill him. As for your ability to shoot, I have absolute faith in your abilities or I wouldn't suggest it," Cole said, lying through his teeth.

"That makes one of us," Darryl muttered under his breath. Even though he's not entirely sure about the idea, he saw no other option so he pulled out his revolver in readiness. "Ready when you are?"

Cole didn't reply directly, he just started his countdown. "Three, two, one… now!"

Darryl snapped up and fired his revolver, hitting Milligan in the head and causing him to release the young woman. Seizing his chance, Cole fired an energy ball at him, which incinerated him on contact. Darryl ran and grabbed the woman, pulling her behind an upturned table as Forbes and Gregor started firing ball after ball at them.

Sensing their distraction, Piper quickly stood up and froze them where they stood. Cole wasted no time in repeating what he did with Milligan to the other two.

"One thing that's good about having a demon on our side," Phoebe began as she stood up, "we don't always have to spend ages making those potions. I mean I love magic, but there are times when…"

Cole cut off his girlfriend's tirade. "Phoebe, can you do the babble thing in your head please?" he asked nervously.

"Why?"

"Because the woman Milligan was using as a human shield looks like her head will explode if you keep going."

Everybody looked over to where Darryl and the woman were and noticed that her eyes were millimetres away from popping out and her jaw was down around her ankles. Her eyes didn't pop out, but they did roll up inside her head as she passed out, Darryl barely able to catch her before she hit the floor.

He looked to the rest of the group. "What are we going to do with her?" he asked the others.

The sisters all looked at Leo. "She'll have to come with us, we can't just leave her here or at a hospital and she's seen too much for us to let her go without an explanation."

Darryl had by now sat her down in a chair, finding it difficult to keep her upright without having to place his hands where his wife wouldn't want them.

"If she doesn't take it well," Leo continued, "I can always erase her memories." He looked down at himself, realising that he still looked like Xander. "I just remembered something…" he then smiled and reverted back to his natural form. "Much better; nothing against Xander, but I prefer to look in a mirror and see my own face."

Piper hugged him and kissed him lightly on the lips. "I like you this way more myself."

He smiled at her until he replayed her sentence in his head and picked up on something. "More?"

Piper decided that actions speak louder than words so she kissed Leo passionately until they both had to replenish their oxygen supply. It had the desired result and Leo forgot what she said.

After smirking at Leo's dazed expression, Cole turned to his girlfriend. "I better go get Xander and…"

Darryl stopped him before Cole could shimmer away. "Before you go and do that, I need to tell you that you're all going to have to make statements about what happened at your place earlier today. Your neighbours actually saw what happened this time, although not the 'demon assassins firing energy balls' part, so you won't be able to get out of it this time."

Prue yawned suddenly. "Will we be able to do it tomorrow? I can't speak for anyone else but I'm beat and need a good night's rest."

"Sure," he replied, not feeling up to it himself, "but it will have to be tomorrow."

"That's fine," Prue agreed on behalf of the group.

Cole waited for the nod from Darryl before shimmering to his safe house and Xander.

Prue went up to the detective and hugged him briefly. "Thanks for all your help Darryl."

"Hey," he said returning the hug, "that's what friends are for. I better get back home, the missus will already want to kick my ass for being late, again."

Seeing no reason to stay where they were, the sisters and Leo followed Darryl out, Leo picking up the woman on the way.

"We'll see you at the precinct tomorrow," Leo informed him.

Darryl smiled before getting in his car and driving home.

Leo had put the woman in the back of the car and gently put her seatbelt on before turning to the others. "OK, let's get back and get ready to explain what she's seen tonight."

Phoebe suggested something. "Do you think she'll accept that they were muggers?" she asked.

They all looked at her as though she'd just told them she was an alien.

"Not a chance in hell," they said in unison.

**Goldfingers Bar,  
Los Angeles,  
California.**

This was the fifth bar that Angel had gone to so far, hoping to either find Spike of find someone who knew where he was. This was the final straw, once they find out where Buffy was, he and Spike would have an extremely painful family reunion.

As he looked round, a flash of short blond hair and a swirl of black leather caused him to force himself though the crowd, almost ploughing everybody down in his way. He reached the figure and grabbed them by the shoulders and slammed them up against the wall.

"Hey, if you want an autograph you could have just asked!" the man said angrily.

Angel looked surprised at who it was. "Billy Idol!?" he yelled shocked.

Angel suddenly felt half of the crowd turn to face him. As he turned round, Angel noticed a poster on the wall indicating that Billy was there to perform tonight, which meant that he was in a room full of people that wouldn't be too happy with him right now.

Suddenly, his head snapped backward as Billy hit him with a hard uppercut that caused Angel to release his hold on the singer and stagger back a step or two. Angel idly wondered how he was hit so hard from a human when his vampire senses told him that he hadn't been, watching as the singer vamped out confirming it.

"I guess that would make you a Spike wannabe," he quipped.

Knowing that he didn't have to hold back from hurting him, and needing to vent a little anger, Angel rushed forward and slammed his fist into Billy's abdomen, doubling the rocker over, and then smashed his elbow into the back of his head, knocking Billy to the floor. He pulled a stake out from his jacket, but before he was able to slam it into Billy's chest, several of his fans jump the souled vampire, wrestling him to the ground.

Billy got up off of the floor, his features back to normal, and dusted himself off. "I hate it when a fan doesn't take no for an answer." He kicked Angel hard in the head, knocking him out. "Take him outside and throw him in the gutter where he belongs and when you come back in I'll start my set." Cheers filled the club as Angel was carried outside while Billy took to the stage. "I was going to start with 'Tomorrow People', but I think I'll go with 'Dead on Arrival' tonight." The band starts the intro as the people who took Angel outside return. "Dead on arrival, Well that's how they pronounced him, But I'm out for survival, I'm alive in this town…"


	18. Chapter Eighteen

_**Chapter Eighteen**_

**The Source's lair,  
Demon Underworld,  
The Following Morning.**

Buffy woke with a start, caused by a foot nudging her on the shoulder. She looked up to see Pretorius, who she had found out was the Source's right-hand man. Since her first encounter with the Source, she hadn't actually seen him, and it had been Pretorius that had been given the task of guarding her. She still hadn't been told how she got where she was, she remembered that she had just finished her talk with Dawn and her mother, but everything after that was nothing more than a blur.

After managing to sit up, as even though her strength had gone they had insisted on keeping her hands bound, she turned to her captor.

"Good morning Elizabeth, your breakfast is served," Pretorius said with all the warmth of a glacier.

In front of her was a small metal dish with something that looked nothing like food. "The name's Buffy and how am I supposed to eat _that_ with my hands tied?" she asked.

"I'm sure that you'll think of something Elizabeth," he replied scornfully, "I've been told that humans are known for their resourcefulness. By the way there is someone who would like to have a word with you."

"Who?"

"Me."

Buffy turned to the source of the voice and saw Spike standing in the doorway to the lair with his usual smirk on his face.

"Spike! You son of a _bitch_!" she screamed, frantically trying to break her bonds so she could break every bone in his body before staking him.

He swaggered over, not bothered in the least by her anger. "Hello Slayer, I'll have you know that my mother was a lady."

"Lady of the night maybe," she taunted.

His mother was a sore spot for Spike and he got angry at the comment. He backhanded her and was frustrated when the chip kicked in.

"_Goddamit_! The sooner he takes this damn chip out the happier I'll be!" he exclaimed angrily.

Pretorius joined the conversation. "All in good time William."

"Easy for you to say, you don't get excruciating pain every time you hit a human."

"That's as maybe," he replied, not caring about Spike's plight in the slightest, "but you know the situation and it would be wise to accept it."

Buffy started to laugh but there was no humour in it. "Is this what this is all about Spike? So you can get your chip taken out?" she asked incredulously.

"Of course it's so I can have this fucking chip taken out! I don't know if it escaped your attention, but I'm a _vampire_! I want what I want and I'll do whatever it takes to get it. The Source came to me with a way of getting what I want and I grabbed it with both hands."

"So you kidnap me and you get the chip out?" she asked.

Spike smiled at the memory of the other task he had to perform, still able to taste the blood on his lips. "That and kill Droopy's folks."

Buffy tried to hit him but was frustrated that she couldn't. "You _bastard_!" she screamed.

Pretorius stopped her from standing up and Spike's smirk grew.

"Shut up you daft bint, I did him a favour. I'd feel sorry for the useless wanker if I gave a shit; Ma and Pa Harris were prime examples why humans should need a licence to breed. I've seen Droopy take a hit from a vamp and stay standing but he always falls down when his father hit him. I used to watch in amusement, as his dad would beat on him with a belt, sometimes a beer bottle. Ah the memories."

Buffy tried killing Spike with but a stare but came up empty, and then a thought struck her. "Wait a minute, how could you kill them if the chip's active?"

Pretorius decided to answer that one on Spike's behalf. "My master modified the chip so that it would work on Alexander's parents, making William's task that much easier."

By this time Spike was fully engrossed in the memories of that night, almost dancing to an unknown rhythm. "The feelings I got when I felt fresh human blood coursing through my veins were of orgasmic proportions I can tell you. I hadn't felt that good from draining someone since Woodstock."

"Well savour it because when Xander gets his hands on you…"

Spike snorted loudly, cutting Buffy's threat short. "Droopy? You must have brain damage from the sedatives I gave you if you think I'd be scared of that poofy wanker."

"You should be," she said with flint in her voice.

"I should be a lot of things slayer. Droopy's days are numbered, the Source'll see to that, then my chip goes the way of the Dodo and we'll have some fun before I kill you."

Spike moved forward quickly and licked the side of Buffy's face before swaggering off, his maniacal laughter echoing throughout the room.

**Hyperion Hotel,  
Los Angeles,  
California.**

The gang were sitting around the lobby of the hotel, feeling despondent about their less than successful search for Spike. The all looked the worse for wear, the events of the last few days, on top of dealing with Drusilla and Darla, have taken their toll on them all. Angel looked the worst out of all of them; fading bruises and cuts adorning his face.

Gunn was the first to speak. "I looked everywhere man and didn't find squat. I've asked my boys to keep on the look out for Spike but other than that I'm all out of options."

Wes nodded in agreement, not having much better luck himself. "Same here I'm afraid. None of my contacts could remember anyone buying ingredients for masking spells in the last few days, or anyone fitting Spike's description. They'll contact me if that changes, but I'm not holding out hope."

Cordelia noticed that Angel wasn't taking much interest in what they were saying, his usual level of brooding up several notches. "How did you do Angel?" she asked. "You haven't said much about it."

After a second Angel looked up at her, as if he finally realised there were others in the room. "I checked my contacts and went to the clubs Spike would go to but came up with nothing."

She could tell he was keeping something back and, not being a patient person, tried to get it out of him. "And how come you smelt like a garbage dump when you came in this morning?" she asked, scrunching up her face in distaste.

There's another pause before he spoke, as if he were trying to work out the best way to explain it.

"I got jumped by a gang of vamps, I got too close to their nest for their liking I guess. I managed to dust five of them when they got me with a lucky shot; luckily I dusted the last of them before I blacked out. I came to a few minutes before sunrise and bolted for the car, just getting there on time."

That last bit was true, but he didn't feel like telling them the real reason he smelt like trash. Billy had told them to throw him in the gutter, but they decided that the dumpster was a better place after getting in a few more cheap shots while he was still trying to come round.

It was lucky he parked outside a west-facing wall or he'd be blowing in the wind now. "Like you I've told my sources to contact me if Spike is spotted. I can't think of anything else we can do right now."

"I'll call Giles and let him know," Cordelia informed the others as she went to the phone.

"There's nothing to tell Cor," Angel replied. He didn't like telling Giles they had no luck, remembering what he could be like when people he cared for was in trouble.

"They still need to know, that way they can begin to think of other ways of finding her," she argued, her tone telling everyone that she knew she was right so there was no point in discussing it further.

Angel knew she was right that they needed to know, so he reluctantly nodded his assent even though she had already reached the phone and dialled Giles' number.

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

At the moment the manor looked like a bomb had gone off, a tornado had hit it, and then had a school bus drive through it. When they had got back and were able to see the scope of the damage, all three sisters became rather emotional, fearing that their home was beyond repair and they would have to move. Both Leo and Cole had done their best to console the women and had managed to calm them down long enough to work out a plan.

The sisters, Leo and Cole had done the best they could with the patch up job, boarding up the window in Prue's bedroom and whatever holes there were in the walls, floors and ceilings. Hoping Xander wouldn't mind, Leo then assumed his form and spoke to his construction company, seeing if they were able to come and fix the damages.

After asking whether this sort of thing happened to Xander a lot, as they had heard about the amount of times Xander had fixed or got his crew to fix his friends homes or shop, they had managed to work out a deal and a crew were coming to assess what needed to be done later today.

The more pressing problem they had was sleeping soundly on the couch in the living room, one of the few pieces of furniture that had remained intact. The woman that had been caught in the crossfire yesterday hadn't woken up since she passed out, and to be honest none of them actually wanted to wake her.

They knew that as soon as she was awake, they would have to answer some very difficult questions, which would only lead to more questions and so on and so forth. If the worst came to the worst Leo could always wipe her memory of what happened, but they hoped that they wouldn't have to, as they all felt that sort of thing was morally ambiguous at best.

It was this problem that they were all discussing in the kitchen.

"So we've decided that honesty is the best policy?" Prue asked the others.

Piper nodded. "Yeah, we give her the cold hard truth and go from there. I've had enough of lying to people and after what she went through I think she deserves it."

Phoebe had been pretty quiet, obviously thinking about something. "Do we know her?" she asked the others suddenly.

Everyone turned to look at her. "I don't think so," Piper replied, "why do you ask?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, she just reminds me of someone I guess."

**The Magic Box,  
Sunnydale,  
California.**

Giles put the phone down after speaking to Cordelia and slumped down in a chair, an air of disappointment almost visible around him. He had hoped that Angel and the others would have had better luck in locating Spike than they had, but he should have known better than to get his hopes up, as they didn't live in a world where prayers get answered. Joyce and Dawn were in the shop with him, Tara and Willow having another exam today and were unable to get out of it.

Joyce saw the look on his face and went to sit next to him, placing her hand gently on his forearm. "Rupert?" she asked tentatively.

Her touch and voice brought him out of his thoughts and he turned to her, trying but failing to smile. "That was Cordelia, they've checked with all of their contacts and looked everywhere they thought Spike would go, but haven't found anything as yet. They said that they would continue to search but they do not think that Spike was there."

She also got a look of disappointment, her worries about her daughter's whereabouts increasing. "Where has he gone?" she asked.

"I'm afraid I don't know, yet. I think that we should call Xander and let him know the situation, he may be able to give us another perspective on things."

Dawn decided to join in the conversation, that way reminding them that she was actually there. "Do you think he'll help? I mean, he did tell her to leave."

She didn't believe that Xander would refuse to help, but she knew how angry he must have been to want Buffy to leave and he might not have calmed down yet to think straight.

"Telling her to leave so he had time to think is not the same as not caring about her safety Dawn," Giles replied. "She is still his friend and he will want to know, in fact if we don't tell him and he finds out on his own somehow it would only make the situation worse."

"When you speak to him, say hi from me please?" she asked hopefully.

Giles gave her a fatherly smile, something that Joyce noticed and smiles at. She knew that if her tumour ever did come back, Dawn would have people here to take care of and protect her.

"Of course Dawn, I'm sure he'd like to hear from you."

Giles noticed Joyce smiling at him and this time was able to return it before going to the phone and dialling the number Leo gave him.

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Phoebe had heard the ringing under a pile of rubble and it had taken her a couple of minutes to find it, the phone going off and on again several times before actually being able to pick up the receiver. "Halliwell residence, Phoebe speaking."

"Hello Phoebe, it's Rupert Giles."

"Hi Mr. Giles," she said brightly, thankful it was someone in the know about what they do so she didn't have to lie. "Sorry for the delay in answering, but it took me a while to find the phone, one of the hazards of demon fighting. How are you?"

"Don't worry about it, I understand completely. As for how I am," he said with a sigh, "I've had better weeks but I'm bearing up. By the way please call me Giles, everybody does. Is Xander available?" he asked.

Phoebe didn't know whether Xander would want the others to know his situation at the moment, and with him not being able to tell them one way or the other she decided to stretch the truth a little. "He's unavailable at the moment, Cole has taken him somewhere to help him learn how to use his abilities and won't be back until tonight. I'm afraid that they didn't take a cell phone with them, wanting to have complete privacy."

OK, she stretched the truth more than a little, but it was the only thing she could think of. She hoped that this way Xander would be awake to speak to him and give her time to tell him the cover story she used if he wanted to stick to it. At the end of the day it was Xander's story to tell and Xander's choice on who to tell it to.

"Would you be able to tell him that I called when you see him, it's rather urgent that I speak with him," he said urgently.

She could hear the worry in his voice and decided to find out why. "Is there anything we could do?" she asked.

She could almost hear him decide whether to say anything or not. "Buffy has been taken, we believe by Spike the night before last. I thought that Xander might be able to give us a fresh point of view."

She liked Buffy while she was here, her treatment of Xander not withstanding, and knew that Xander would definitely want to know regardless of his feelings toward her. "I'll be sure to tell him as soon as I can. Would you like us to try a location spell to find her?"

"I had forgotten that you were witches and hadn't thought of it," he replied, she could hear the self-recrimination in his voice. "It would be very useful, we have tried one ourselves but it seems someone is blocking it."

"We might have more success, we are the Charmed Ones after all," she informed him, a touch of justified ego entering her voice.

"Do you have something you can use of Buffy's there?" he asked, aware that they would need such a thing to assist in their search.

She frowned, not sure whether they did or not. "I'm sure we'll find something and if we can't we can arrange for Leo or Cole to meet one of you and get something."

"Thank you for your kindness," he said warmly.

"Hey if we can't help the good guys who can we help?" she asked with a smile. "I'll phone and let you know what happens."

"Thank you again Phoebe, for everything."

"Not a problem. Speak to you soon."

**Dreamscape,  
Xander's Mind.**

Xander was sitting in a room that resembled a library, but there didn't seem to be an end to it no matter what direction he faced. There were countless rows of shelves, all packed with books of different sizes, each one covering a different subject.

He understood now why the Elders said it would take so long for him to process the information. If he spent the rest of his life, and the next ten after that, he would never get to read even a fraction of them.

That was of course if this were the real world and not his mind. He already knew what each book detailed without ever having to reach for it.

"That's because this simply represents the knowledge that you now have, everything there is to know about everyone that was, is and will be in this war."

Xander span round trying to find the source of the voice. A figure appeared from nowhere and Xander was startled slightly to be looking at himself.

"Who are you?" he asked.

Other-Xander smiled and indicated that they sit down at the table that had materialized between them.

"I'm you," he said as he sat down, Xander mirroring him on the other side of the table, "well to be more precise I'm a part of you."

"Can you vague that up a little," Xander asked, "you're speaking far too clearly for my liking."

"I am the part of you that makes you 'The One Who Sees', I'm the part that is happy you've been given full access to all of this information," he explained, indicating the vastness of Xander's mind and the information contained within. "The last time I was around, my host didn't learn everything in time for his confrontation with the Source. If he had you would never have met me."

Xander couldn't miss the sadness that could be heard in his counterparts voice. "I'm sorry for your loss," he said sincerely.

Other-Xander smiled sadly and nodded in acceptance. "Thank you. You're much different to my last host, not surprising I suppose as a lot can change in ten thousand years."

Xander's eyes, well his metaphorical ones at least, nearly bulged out of his head. "Ten thousand years!" he shouted in shock.

Other-Xander smiled at the astonishment in his counterpart's voice "Yes, if my host does not succeed, another is chosen ten thousand years later. I am a bit like the Slayer essence in that respect, when one host dies another one is called. The difference is that where the next Slayer is called the instant the previous one dies, ten thousand years has to pass before another host for me is chosen."

"How many hosts have you had?" Xander asked intrigued.

"More than your understanding of history would allow to be possible," he replied cryptically. "I hope that you will be the last."

Xander put on his best lop-sided smile. "I'm guessing you said that last time as well."

"Yes," Other-Xander conceded, "but it makes what I said no less true. You have an advantage over the last; you now have the complete knowledge of you capabilities, as well as the skill to use them to their full potential. In fact only one other would be able to claim the same, the first host. Her problem was that she was too emotional for her own good and the Source took advantage of that weakness, something he will do with you as well."

"Her?" Xander asked confused.

"I can understand your confusion, given your experience with those that are Chosen. Unlike the Slayer, 'The One Who Sees' does not need to be a specific gender or age. There have been more male hosts than female, but not for any specific reason."

Xander nodded in understanding, thinking that this way sounded a lot fairer than the way the Slayer was Chosen. He then remembered something else that Other-Xander said that caught his attention. "You talked about my weakness?"

"Your friends are your weakness, or more specifically your need to protect them."

Xander didn't like the way this conversation was turning. "You're saying I shouldn't protect my friends?" he asked with an edge to his voice that was unmistakable.

Other-Xander smiled. "Of course not," he replied, "just that your need to protect them can be used against you. The Source will use whatever advantage he can find to ensure his survival."

"So will I," he replied with certainty.

Other-Xander's expression turned serious and he leant forward slightly. "You wouldn't let your friends die to fulfil your destiny though, would you?"

Xander's face becomes hard, his eyes like steel. "Two things; one, I don't believe in destiny as it means that we have no choices in our actions, something I will _never_ accept to be true. Two, if I allowed my friends to die just so I get what I want, I would be no better than the things I fight. I know that the world is a myriad of grey shades, but I also know where to draw the line."

Other-Xander kept up his stern expression for a few more moments before smiling widely. "Congratulations, you've passed your final test."

"Huh?" Xander asked, confused at the sudden change.

"The fact that there have been hosts before you proves that destiny is not the only factor in life. Every host has been 'destined' to destroy the Source and as yet none have succeeded. For you to truly have a chance you needed to be aware of that."

"I knew that before all this happened, but the Elders said…"

Other-Xander's eye roll stopped Xander cold. "Very few beings alive now were alive when the previous host was chosen, and those stay hidden from the rest of existence. The Elders did not create me, and they do not have authority over you. Their role is to help and guide you, nothing more. It is also good to hear that you will not stoop to the Source's level in order to win; your morals are what differentiate you from the Source and his ilk. Although from your memories I know that you're not above fighting dirty, you still know where to draw the line."

Xander smirked at that but didn't comment, instead asking about something else. "What happens now?" he asked.

"You wake up," he replied simply. "It seems that there was one more after affect of the spell the monks cast. Your brain now works faster than normal, most likely caused by the melding of the two possessions you've had, allowing the knowledge given to you by the Elders to be processed more quickly than expected. Not by a great deal, only a few hours in fact, but in your line of work every second counts."

"You're right about that. What does that mean for me?" Xander asked, needing to know if there were any downsides.

"As I said the increase is not by much," he reiterated, "but it will help with your planning and strategising skills you acquired from your Halloween possession."

"So I'm smart now?" he asked dubiously.

"You were smart before," Other-Xander stated firmly, "you simply didn't have an outlet for it. Construction gave you that outlet, which is why you have gone so far in such a short space of time."

"If you say so," Xander replied, his tone indicating that he didn't believe his counterpart.

"You've only been in the industry a year and you're already in line for promotion to site foreman. That doesn't happen to dumb people. I've been here since the day you were born, so I know what I'm talking about. The fact that I'm you means you know what I'm talking about as well, you simply need to believe it." He had a glazed look for a moment before smiling. "It's time for you to wake up."

Both Xander's stood up, the table and chairs disappearing as they did so. "Will I see you again?" Xander asked his doppelganger.

Other-Xander started walking away, fading more and more out of sight with each step. "Every time you look in a mirror."

The room began to fade and Xander felt himself returning to the land of the living.


	19. Chapter Nineteen

_**Chapter Nineteen**_

**The Magic Box,  
Sunnydale,  
California.**

Giles put down the receiver after saying goodbye to Phoebe and turned around to find Dawn and Joyce standing next to him, apparently listening in on the conversation. Willow and Tara were in the back room leaving the three of them alone.

Dawn looked at him expectantly. "Do you think they'll be able to find her?" she asked.

Giles took off his glasses and wiped them briefly before answering, a sure sign that he was trying to gather his thoughts. "I don't know Dawn," he told the young girl, "I gather that any one of the three sisters is easily as powerful as Willow or Tara, and that when they combine their powers seem to be even stronger, so they may have enough power to break through whatever is blocking our attempts."

He was trying his hardest to sound hopeful for them, but his optimism had become jaded with the amount of things he'd seen in his lifetime, making it difficult to keep the despondency that he was feeling out of his voice. He could tell that Joyce was picking up on it, but luckily Dawn was seemingly oblivious to it all.

"Did you get to speak to Xander?" the youngest Summers girl asked hopefully.

Dawn was finding it difficult to cope without Xander around. Whenever she was worried or sad about something, Xander had always been able to make her feel better, and it was one of the reasons she loved him so much. Having him as one of the reasons why she was feeling worried didn't help; she knew better than most that Xander could hold his own, but with Glory gunning for him to get to her and this Source guy wanting him dead as well, she felt justified in worrying about him.

"No," Giles replied, "Phoebe said that he was training with Cole, but I feel that she may have been misleading me."

Dawn instantly started to panic, speaking faster than either Joyce or Giles could cope with. Joyce pulled her into a hug in an attempt to calm her down, and after a minute or two Dawn did compose herself enough to ask a question that Giles was able to understand. "Why do you say that?"

"Age and experience, I could hear the tone of her voice change as she spoke and she paused before responding. Both are signs that she was trying to think of something to say other than the truth."

"Do you think it was because Xander didn't want to speak to us?" she asked fearing the answer.

Giles could see the sadness in Dawn's eyes; he may not show it but he noticed more than people believe so he knew about how Dawn felt about Xander. He knelt down so that they were at eye level; making sure that his expression is as soft as possible.

"No," he replied soothingly, "if Xander didn't want to talk to us he would have told them to say so; he tends to be straightforward when it comes to that sort of thing. I could be wrong but if I'm not, either Xander is doing something they don't want us to know about or something has happened to him and they don't feel that we have the right to know."

At hearing that, Dawn went red with anger. "We're his _family_, we have every right!" she screamed.

Giles sighed, as he felt the same way about the boy, no, young man, but knew that under the circumstances they didn't have a leg to stand on.

"No Dawn we're not his family," he replied sadly, "however much we might think so. We are his friends and even that title may be stretching things given the state of affairs we find ourselves in. Only his parents have any right to know if he's OK or not, and I don't think Xander would be all that bothered if they were told either."

"They wouldn't be able to be told."

They all turned to the voice to find Willow and Tara coming out of the back room, Tara practically holding Willow up. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and it looked like she might start again at any moment.

"What are you talking about Willow?" Giles asked, concerned with what has caused Willow such distress.

Willow looked to Giles and sniffed a couple of times before responding to his question. "I just spoke to my parents, they…"

Willow began sobbing again, burying her head into Tara's shoulder. It soon became clear that Willow was no fit state to explain further, so they all turned to Tara for an explanation.

"Tara?" Joyce asked softly.

Tara herself had seen better days, but was holding up considerably better than her girlfriend. "Her father called her a few minutes ago with some bad news. The same night that Buffy was taken, there was a banging at their door. When they opened it they found Xander's parents dead bodies lying in a heap on their front porch."

Giles had an idea as to how they died but needed to know for himself. "How did they die?" he asked softly.

Tara's face flinched slightly as she imagined how they were positioned. She may never have met Xander's parents before, but that didn't mean she didn't feel bad that they were dead.

"Puncture marks to the neck, no blood left in their bodies. Willow's dad went to check on them, being a doctor and all, and saw that there was a note pinned to Mr. Harris' forehead. It read 'I've done you a favour whelp, hope you appreciate it'. They said that it was unsigned, but only one person ever called Xander 'whelp', that I know of anyway."

Giles said the blonde vampire's name in an animalistic growl. "Spike."

Dawn involuntarily stepped away from Giles, never seeing him so angry. Then she wondered how Spike could have drained them. "How could he have done it, I mean with the chip in his head he shouldn't be able to hurt humans," she asked timidly.

Giles noticed the look on Dawn's face and, after realising that he was the cause, applied a couple of meditation techniques he knew to calm himself down before replying, sending the young girl an apologetic smile beforehand.

"Well it seems he's found a way around that somehow, which could possibly give us a motive as to why he decided to switch sides once again."

"How come he didn't kill us then?" Joyce asked.

As soon as Joyce had said that, the realisation of how easily both herself and Dawn could now be lying in the morgue swept over her and she shuddered.

"I don't know but I am glad that he didn't," Giles replied honestly.

Everyone was silent for a few moments, allowing the most recent shock to filter through their already overwhelmed systems. Tara was the first to speak, although her words were mirrored by everybody's thoughts.

"Should we ring Xander?" she asked.

Giles shook his head. "At the moment for whatever reason he isn't available to talk and this isn't the sort of thing to be relayed via a third party. If he doesn't ring us by tomorrow I shall ring him again but I think we better leave things as they are for the moment." He saw Dawn go to protest but he cut her off. "I want to ring him as much as you do Dawn, but right now there isn't anything we can do until he is either willing or able to talk."

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Xander's eyes flickered open and he was happy that the room was dark, knowing that after nearly two full days of sleep a little light goes a long way. He was slightly surprised that he wasn't famished, he normally couldn't go more than four hours without the tell tale signs of hunger, but he felt none of those signs at the moment.

He slowly got up, mindful that he hadn't used any muscles for a couple of days, and took a look around the room he was in. He guessed that he was in the manor, as although he hadn't been given a tour of the place, he could tell by the style of the room.

It was when he was looking around the room that he noticed that the window was boarded up and the bed that he had been lying in was more of a cot than a bed. Worried, he opened the door and quickly made his way downstairs, squinting as the warm yellow glow of the sun hit his eyes for the first time. He saw more holes in the walls and reminded himself that his slumber had been mystically induced, as although he was a heavy sleeper, there was no way he could have slept through whatever caused this without help of some sort.

When he entered the kitchen, or what was left of the kitchen, he saw everyone sitting around with less than happy expressions on their faces. "Who decided to play tenpin bowling in the house?" he asked.

Everyone's head snapped to face the source of the noise, none of them expecting Xander to be awake for hours.

Leo was the first to voice his question. "Xander?"

He bowed theatrically, a large lop-sided grin on his face the whole time. "The one and only."

Nobody could suppress the smiles caused by his antics. "You're up early," he noted unnecessarily.

"Yeah, you can thank those lovely monks for that. It seems that with the combined essences of myself, the soldier and the hyena my brain works faster than normal, so it took less time to process everything."

He made a point of looking around the kitchen, specifically the holes that were keeping the room well ventilated. "Anyone want to explain what happened?" he asked as he sat down.

"The Source somehow found out that you were out of action for a while and sent a few assassins to take you out of the game." Leo indicated the damage they caused in their initial attack. "I don't think subtle was in their vocabulary."

"I take the past tense reference to mean they are no longer a problem?"

"We managed to deal with them," Leo replied, "but it was close for a while there. They were pretty single-minded in their approach."

"I have to say I prefer the villains in Bond films, always giving you plenty of opportunities to escape and leaving just what you need to kill them lying around the place. Had any thoughts to how you're going to fix this place?"

Leo looked guilty for a second before responding. "I hope you don't mind but I asked for your company to come and see what they can do."

"Of course I don't," he replied, wondering why Leo would think he would, "but how did you manage that?"

"I assumed your form," he admitted.

He glared at him for a moment, unknowingly changing his eyes from chocolate brown to green and back. Everyone looked worried for a moment before his posture relaxed and he smiles.

"Good thinking," he conceded. "I hope they can do something, but you'll probably have to move out for a while."

The sisters ignored the fact that his eyes had changed colour and instead focused on the fact they might have to move out, Piper being the first to ask the question on everybody's lips. "Why?"

"I won't sugar-coat it for you," Xander said, donning his 'Work Cap', "this place is a mess and for them to do a good job they can't have you living here during the renovations." At the worried looks everyone is giving him, he tries to calm them down. "It won't be for long, the people I work for are good at what they do and they don't mess around either. As long as there wasn't too much structural damage done it shouldn't take more than a month at most."

"A month!" all three sisters shouted at the same time.

"Don't shoot the messenger here," Xander said placatingly, "you guys have been very lucky so far when it comes to damage to the manor, most of it could be fixed by Leo on his own. The fact of the matter is you deal with demons that have no qualms about levelling the place if it means getting what they want, and considering the types of demons you have to deal with, you've lived a charmed life so far, pardon the pun."

"What do you mean?" Prue asked, not sure what he was getting at.

"You rarely go against anything that physically fights," he began, "which is one of the reasons nobody knew Cole could fight as well as he can. In Sunnydale we do, and apart from when they like to jump through windows and/or doors to get at you, they don't cause a great deal of structural damage. It also helps that we normally fight them at night in graveyards or forest areas. Yours use powers outside of their physical attributes, aren't encumbered by sunlight allergies, and rarely look inhuman on the outside. Add all that up and you get bad guys that don't have to stay away from populated areas or wait for nightfall to come after you. Why they haven't simply destroyed this place the first time they needed you out of the way I have no idea."

The sisters took his comment as a slight against how powerful they were and take umbrage to it, just like some other women he knew. "Maybe we're too difficult to kill," Prue said a little smugly.

He could tell that he was on thin ice here, but he felt that he needed to get his point home. He'd already got one set of friends that believe they're almost invincible and he didn't want another. If you get too arrogant you'll make a mistake, and in their line of work, you don't always get to live to regret them.

"Not when you first came into your powers, you were barely able to control them." He could see that they were taking his words the wrong way and tried to appease them. "Look, I'm not trying to upset you and I'm not even sure how we got into this, all I'm trying to say is that a month away from home is a small price to pay when you consider the alternatives. What happened yesterday could have ended up far worse than it did, namely that one of those blasts that blew holes in your home could have done the same thing to one of you had it hit you."

Everyone there knew how lucky they had been over the years, and they'd lost count how many times they'd won by the skin of their teeth, but for someone to say it out loud really put things into perspective for them. There was silence for several moments, everyone thinking about what could have been and not enjoying those thoughts in the least.

The silence was finally broken when Prue walked over to Xander and hugged him, allowing him to know that there were no hard feelings. "We understand what you were getting at Xander, and we're more than aware of how lucky we've been, we just try not to think about it if we can. Not that I'm trying to change the subject or anything, but how are you feeling?"

"Like I've been asleep for a couple of days," he replied.

She rolled her eyes at him before slapping him on the shoulder.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. "There's to be no hitting of the Xander!"

"Well you better start giving me a straight answer or there will be a continuous and unmerciful hitting of the Xander," she replied. She proved her point by going to hit him again.

"Alright already!" he said, rubbing his shoulder with a slight pout on his features. "I'm feeling a little groggy but other than that I'm fine, better than I've been in a while actually."

Xander got a downcast look that nobody could miss.

"Why do you make it sound like a bad thing?" Piper asked.

"It's just that with everything that's happened to me over the last few days I feel that I should be feeling worse than I am. I mean my girlfriend betrayed me to the Source and was then killed by him, my friends have shown how little they think of me by keeping who Dawn really was from me, not to mention I have a hell goddess baying for my blood. Add the whole 'The One Who Sees' thing and I really should be feeling less good than I am."

"Well Grams always said that things look better after a good nights rest and you've had longer than that," Prue replied. "So what if you're feeling happier than you think you should, in the lives that we lead you should grab every chance of happiness that comes your way, especially as you never know how many more chances you'll get."

As Prue said that, she began to think that maybe she should start taking her own advice. Xander of course was oblivious to her inner monologue, and the fact that she unconsciously moved a little closer to him.

The fact that she hadn't let go of him didn't go unnoticed by her sisters who both gave her knowing looks but she chose to ignore them.

"I just feel like I'm belittling Anya's memory by not grieving like I think I should," he told them, his guilt obvious to them all.

"I know that you loved her," Prue began, "and under any other circumstances I would agree with you, but the Source killed her after she betrayed your love and informed him who and where you were. By doing so she not only put you in danger, but she also put Buffy, my family and myself in danger as well. I'm sorry, but that is something that stops me from feeling sorry for her no matter how bad that makes me sound. I'm not saying that you should be jumping for joy over her loss, but I don't think you should be wracked with grief either."

"I guess you're right," he said.

"I'm a woman, I'm always right," she replied, finally realising that had she held him the entire conversation and released him.

Xander sighed theatrically, wondering if he'd ever win an argument in his lifetime. "I really need to get more male friends."

Leo decided to try and cheer him up a bit. "You have me and Cole."

Xander looked at the two of them and then smirked. "As I said, I really need to get more male friends."

"Smart ass."

Xander went to say something else, but stopped when he heard a moan from the living room. "Who's in the living room?" he asked the others, going so far as to count how many there were in the kitchen to check if he missed anyone.

"A woman that got caught in our fight with the assassins last night. With everything she saw, she passed out and hasn't come to since."

"Well it sounds like she is now," he replied. "What are you going to tell her?" he asked.

"The truth; we've lied to too many people over the years and to be honest, with everything she saw and heard I doubt anything less would do anyway."

Xander remembered his first encounter with the supernatural all those years ago. "Want me to help at all?"

"It can't hurt," Piper replied, "especially as Leo was still in your form when she was awake."

"OK we better get in there; she's waking up in a strange room in what looks like a war zone, the memories of last night are going to start flooding back and she's going to start freaking out."

They all nodded in agreement and followed him to the living room, finding that the woman was slowly sitting up and looking at the room with confusion.

"Who are you? Where am I? What am I doing here?" she asked in rapid succession.

Xander smiled warmly at her, trying to convey that they meant her no harm. He took a quick look at his friends and as they nodded to the unasked question, he took up the position of spokesperson. "All excellent questions, which will all be answered as best we can. Firstly, my name is Xander Harris, these lovely ladies are Prue, Piper and Phoebe Halliwell, and behind them are Leo Wyatt and Cole Turner. At the moment you are in the living room of the sisters' house and the reason you're here is because you passed out last night and we wanted to make sure you were OK. Now I'm sure that you're going to have more questions, but before we get to them would you let us know your name?"

They all looked at her expectantly while she seemed to be deciding whether to tell her name, gauging whether she could trust them or not. After a few moments she nodded her head once, as though she were answering a question only she could hear, before speaking.

"My name's Paige Matthews."

**Somewhere In The Pacific Ocean.**

Jose Remirez was a very wealthy man, none of it through legitimate means. He was the biggest runner of drugs and weaponry out there that didn't have the feds looking into him. Not that there was anything they could do to him if they were, as all of his transactions took place in international waters where no one had jurisdiction over him. He even managed to find a small, uncharted island to use as a base of operations.

It was that island that he was sailing to now on his boat, making sure that everything was ready for the latest meet. Normally he would get one of his lieutenants to do this, but this was a major deal and he didn't want anything going wrong. The Russian mafia have had trouble getting their drug shipments through, and they were meeting with him to arrange for his organisation to take over the shipping of drugs into the country. The boat reached the makeshift dock and his crew secured it to the moorings.

As he came out on deck he notices that something was wrong, as the last time he had been here there weren't any gorgeous looking blondes wearing red satin dresses around. The dress had seen better days, but the woman wearing it was simply breathtaking.

He quashed his hormones with practised ease and walked down the gangway onto the docks to speak to her. "Who are you and what do you…"

Jose was unable to finish his sentence as, with a blur of motion, a small fist crashed through his skull with an earth-shattering crack. Removing her hand, Glory wiped the blood and brain matter on Jose's shirt.

"I will not tolerate such insolence from a damn monkey!" Glory turned to the crew who were either out cold or vomiting over the side, not one of them sure how she was able to move so fast or kill their boss in such a grotesque manner. "I need you to take me back to the mainland, if you do I won't do to you what I did to this."

As she indicated to the now lifeless form of Jose, a unanimous wave of nods greeted her, and the crew rushed around preparing to leave the dock. Glory of course had every intention of killing every last one of them, her tolerance for the glorified amoebas that inhabit the mud-ball of a planet she was on now non-existent, but there was no need to tell them that just yet.

The final straw decimated her mercy towards humanity came when that damnable Whitelighter had orbed her here, with no regard for her status as a goddess, and stranded her on this pitiful excuse for an island. The only reason he was still in existence was due to the fact that he had orbed them several hundred feet above the island and dropped her unceremoniously to the ground below before orbing away.

She'd had several days to think of how to pay them all back for their treatment of her, each one more gruesome than the last, and now that she had transport back to the mainland she would be able to put her more… creative plans into action.

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Xander had been carefully screening his facial features from the moment he had first seen Paige, knowing instantly who she was. During their conversation he had been observing Leo's expression, trying to work out if he knew who she was as well. Xander may know everything there was to know about all the players in this war, but he still had no idea how much anyone _else_ knew.

Xander knew that he couldn't just come out and say 'hi Paige, I know you don't know this but you're actually a witch/Whitelighter and are talking to your half sisters' but he had to do something. He decided that he needed to speak to Leo before he did anything else, as his history of putting his foot in his mouth in these sorts of situations was making him cautious.

"Well it's nice to meet you Paige," he said warmly to her.

She looked at him for a moment before getting a confused expression on her face. "You met me last night."

Xander realised his mistake, as Leo had told him he'd assumed his form last night, but he quickly recovered. "Good point, but we didn't exactly have time to introduce ourselves with everything going on. I'm sure that you want to get right down to it but I'm parched and I'm guessing that you are as well so would you like a drink?" he asked.

"Yes please, I'll have some tea if you have it," she replied.

"You would make someone I know very happy by that choice," he told her, "being a Brit he needs to drink the stuff to survive you know. As you can see, this place has seen better days, but I'm sure that there's enough left of the kitchen for me to brew a pot. Leo, Cole, why don't we leave the girls to chat while we rustle up some drinks?" Both Leo and Cole could tell that Xander wanted to talk to them about something so they nodded their assent. "Great, enjoy the chat ladies and feel free to talk about how wonderful us men folk are in our absence."

With that Xander got up and after effortlessly ducking the pillows thrown at him by the ladies in question, smirking as he did so, he walked to the kitchen, Leo and Cole following slightly behind.

Xander began trying to work out if there was enough left of the kitchen to actually make tea while the other two men stand in the doorway waiting for Xander to speak.

After a minute of silence, Leo decided to start the conversation himself. "What did you want to speak to us about Xander?" he asked.

Xander continued to prepare the tea as he responded. "Leo, do you know who Paige is?" he asked in reply.

Both men looked at Xander strangely, not knowing what he was going on about.

"Other than the woman we saved last night, no," Leo replied. "Why do you ask?"

Xander decided to get straight to the point, having always hated it when people beat around the bush. "She's the child that Sam and Patty had while they were together and secretly gave up for adoption. That means she's Prue, Piper and Phoebe's half sister and a witch/Whitelighter, although her powers haven't been activated yet due to her never touching the Book of Shadows."

That piece of information floored both men, never expecting that to be the answer in a million years.

Leo was the first to speak. "How?"

"How do I know?" Leo nodded. "I would have thought that by now you'd stop asking that." Leo sent him an embarrassed smile, forgetting once again whom he was speaking to. "As to how you didn't know, I have a feeling the Elders were hiding her existence just in case."

"In case of what?" he asked.

Xander's face scrunched up in disgust as the thought entered his head. "In case they needed a spare Halliwell sister."

The thought made Leo pale in shock and he began feeling more than a little nauseous, Cole having a similar reaction to the news himself.

"You can't be serious?" Leo asked.

Xander nodded and then let his features shift into the professional mask of a soldier. "Looking at it purely from a military standpoint it's a good strategy; if one Charmed One dies the Power of Three dies with them, having another sister to call on would stop that from happening." His expression changed back to his normal smiling self. "Of course I'm not in the military and the Elders are extremely lucky I saw them before I met Paige, as I would not have been as civil as I was. I'm guessing they didn't expect for 'The One Who Sees' to be around to fuck it up for them, nor would they have expected me to meet her."

Leo smiled at that then turned serious. "Did you think I knew?"

Xander could hear the barely veiled hurt in Leo's voice and felt guilty for his mistrust. It was just so difficult for him to trust anyone completely, especially after recent events. Living in a town where friends can become enemies and vice versa overnight didn't help either.

"I wasn't sure," he admitted. "I hoped that you didn't, as I like you and would have hated kicking your ass from this realm to the Elders if you did. I'm sorry I doubted you, call it Sunnydale Syndrome."

Leo couldn't really blame Xander for thinking the way he did, as his girlfriend and his closest friends had all betrayed him in one way or another in the last few days, so he wasn't going to trust someone he'd known less than a week implicitly, although his doubts did give him pause.

"I'm surprised that you didn't know one way or the other," Leo commented, "you seem to know everything else."

Xander nearly took offence to that, but realised that Leo wasn't being nasty but instead was just being curious.

"I have information about who everyone is and what everyone can do, but I don't have information on who knows what about anyone else."

Cole smirked at Xander, finally hearing a limit to his knowledge. "It's nice to know you don't know everything."

"I've always been surprised that I know anything," he replied with a smile.

They all laughed at his self-deprecating comment while Xander finished making the tea. After scrounging round for enough cups and saucers, he began placing everything on a large metallic tray.

"Do you think you could take this in Leo? I need to have a quick chat with Cole before we come back in."

"Sure."

Leo took a quick look between the two before departing to the living room with the tea. As soon as Leo was out of earshot, Cole turned to Xander with a pensive look on his face, unsure what he wanted to speak to him about and hoping that it wasn't bad.

"What do you want to talk to me about?" he asked, feeling a little nervous. It was a strange sensation for Cole, and it seemed to happen around Xander quite a bit.

Xander didn't want to bring this up, especially as he knew about Cole's fears, but he didn't see that there was much choice.

"Well, we're going to have to explain what happened last night to Paige, which means explaining about demons…"

Xander tapered off with a pointed look and Cole knew what he was getting at and didn't like that thought one bit.

"No, I can't risk it," Cole stated firmly.

Xander could see Cole putting a wall between them and knew that he needed to get through fast if he had any chance of bringing him round to his way of thinking.

"Cole, the reason you're finding it difficult to control Belthazor is because you're seeing him as a completely different person."

"He is, he's nothing like me," he replied vehemently.

"Belthazor is a part of you Cole and you know that, no matter how much you want to believe otherwise. You're half-demon, not possessed, and you don't have multiple personalities. I am not saying that you are evil, I know that you're not and that isn't 'The One Who Sees' talking that's 100 Xander Harris. Yes, you've done a lot of terrible things in your past, but that was the only way you knew; when you saw there was another way, you realised what you were doing was wrong and joined the ranks of the good guys, something I am glad about. I know that when you are in your demonic form you find it harder to control the urge to return to your old ways, but I know that no matter what form you take, you are a good person. I heard what you said to me when I was asleep and I think the reason you're having so much trouble keeping those darker impulses in check is because you're keeping to tight a hold over your demonic side, allowing the pressure to build and build. If you keep that up the pressure will become too much and you will falter. What you need to do is release the pressure a bit by indulging your demonic side a bit from time to time."

"Are you nuts!" he hissed, not wanting to make a scene that would have the others rushing in.

"I don't mean killing innocents Cole," Xander snapped in reply, "I mean going out as Belthazor and killing some demons. That way, you satisfy the urges without the usual side-effects, namely your girlfriend and her sisters trying to vanquish you."

Although he hated to admit it, Cole could see Xander's point. He'd been going about things all wrong; he had to accept that Belthazor was a part of who he was before he had a chance to control his darker impulses.

Even though he didn't like the thought of letting his demonic side loose for a while, the prospect of gaining better control would mean that he could allow himself to believe that he and Phoebe have a real chance of making it, which was reason enough for him to risk it.

"OK I'll do it," he said, "but if this goes pear-shaped I'm holding you responsible."

"Duly noted, but nothing will go wrong because I have faith in you."

"Thanks, that means a lot. So, how are you going to explain everything to Paige?" he asked.

"I suggest we stick to what she saw last night to begin with, that in itself will be a wake up call for her. How well she takes that will gauge when to tell her the rest, but I've never liked delaying telling someone something so important, previous experience has told me if you wait too long they find out themselves and things get worse."

"I agree, she needs to find out from us or she won't trust us," Coles commented, noticing that Xander's eyes darkened for a moment as he no doubt thought about the way his friends had been treating him recently.

"Well I suppose we better get back in there," Xander said eventually, "Phoebe's probably wondering what's going on and I am far too smart to knowingly getting into a woman's bad books."

"You seem to be able to do it well enough unwillingly," he quipped, instantly regretting it as it a low blow even for him.

Cole saw Xander's eyes flash green briefly and decided to ask him about it. "What's with the flashing eyes?" he asked.

"Huh?" was Xander's astute reply.

"Your eyes just flashed green a moment ago and it happened before when you first came downstairs."

Xander had no idea what Cole was on about, so he went over and grabbed a large butcher's knife from the knife block that was still on the floor. Using it as a mirror, he concentrated on trying to get his eyes to flash again. After a few moments, Xander did indeed see his eyes flash green. Once he knew that Cole wasn't just pulling his chain, he found that he could will his eyes to flash.

"I always wanted to have a weird flashy eye thing, I always thought it would look cool," Xander commented.

"Try to keep it in check until after we've explained things to Paige," Cole warned. "We don't want to freak her out any more than she already is."

"I didn't even know I could until a minute ago but I'll do my best," he replied.

"Don't you find that strange?"

"What?" Xander asked, not understanding what Cole was getting at.

"That you didn't know you would have flashing eyes? I mean you know about everything everyone else can do, so I would have thought you would have known about what you could do yourself."

"I never thought about it like that," he replied, realising that he probably should know what he can and can't do. "Maybe it's a residual thing from the spell the Elder's used on me, or the fact that I've been possessed twice before that's caused it, or another effect of the spell those monks cast on us. Any of those options would mean that it wouldn't be part of what 'The One Who Sees', meaning me, would normally be able to do. Whatever the reason it doesn't matter at the moment, lets get back to the others."

**Pacific Ocean.**

Glory was basking in the sun on the deck of the boat that she had appropriated from its former owner, wearing a bikini she found in the cabin below. To give the crew another incentive to do as she commanded, and to feed for the first time in several days, she had absorbed the mind of one of the crew before she ripped his limbs off one at a time, finally throwing the pieces overboard for the sharks.

It worked exactly how she had planned, the crew were practically bowing down to kiss her feet whenever she walked past, something she could definitely get used to from humans, and the boat was now speeding its way toward the mainland. Glory wasn't sure what country they were headed towards and she didn't care, as it would be one step closer to her final destination, the Key and home.

Of course, she had a planned detour to enable her to kill the Whitelighter, who stranded her on that abysmal island, the boy Alexander who had the whereabouts of the Key in his puny human mind, and all his friends in a very slow and painful way first. You shouldn't really begrudge yourself of a little fun now should you? With that final thought a smile adorned her face and she closed her eyes, feeling happy that things were finally looking up.


	20. Chapter Twenty

_**Chapter Twenty**_

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Xander walked into the living room with Cole close behind him. Phoebe gave them both a questioning look, but Cole just smiled to let her know everything was alright. Once everyone was seated, Xander decided to be spokesperson again as it seemed to work well last time.

"Okay Paige, we all know you have a lot of questions that need answers," he began, "but I think that the best way to start is for you to tell us what you remember from last night so we can fill in the blanks."

"Okay," she responded, "I was walking a client home when this linebacker in a suit lands in front of us and pushes Jimmy away. I tell Jimmy to run home then the guy grabs me by the neck and drags me inside that building he flew out of and tells you he'll kill me if you don't surrender. The next thing I know is that a cute looking black guy jumps up and shoots the guy holding me then… Cole blows him up with something that wouldn't look out of place in a sci-fi show. After that things are pretty fuzzy, but I do remember Piper stopping the other two from moving, then someone talking about demons and potions before I black out. The next thing I know is I wake up and find myself here."

"Okay that about sums it up," Piper said.

Paige turned to Cole, "what was it I saw you do?" she asked.

"Well that's partly what we're going to explain," he replied. "Do you believe in demons?"

Paige's response is as to be expected. "Huh?"

"What Cole was oh so subtly trying to ask," Xander said, trying not to laugh at her dumbfounded expression, "is do you have an open mind when it comes to the paranormal or supernatural, you know the stuff you see on the X-Files? Believe me when I say that this will go a lot easier if you are, as what we're about to tell you definitely falls under that category."

"Well I've never really thought about it," she replied, finally getting her wits back, "but I'm not one to say that something doesn't exist because I haven't seen it. If I were, Paris wouldn't exist as far as I'm concerned."

Everyone breathed a silent sigh of relief over that statement, knowing how hard it could be to convince someone with a closed mind about the things they do.

"Right, well the fact of the matter is that the supernatural does exist and what you saw last night was an example," Xander said, not bothering with sugar-coating it once he knew she wouldn't immediately reject his claim. "The guy that grabbed you and his two friends were demons, sent to kill me."

Cole looked over at him with a smirk on his face, "now who's being blunt?"

"Ahhh, sue me," Xander retorted.

Prue used her power to give them both a mystical slap upside the head. "You guys finished?"

Cole and Xander looked at each other for a moment before replying at the same time. "Yep."

"Let's say that I believe you so far," Paige said, relaxing slightly due to the friendly banter, "why would anyone want to kill you?"

"They've met him," Leo responded before Xander was able.

Xander glared at him in mock annoyance. "Hey!"

Piper rolled her eyes and turns to Paige. "Ignore them, I always do. The reason they were after Xander is rather complicated."

"I'm listening."

Xander noticed that everyone had turned to look at him expectantly so he started working out the best way to explain it. "Right, I'm not used to telling people who aren't part of our world so bear with me. There's a guy called the Source, or Malcolm to his friends…"

"The Source's real name is Malcolm!?"

"… Who is like the boss of the demons around here," Xander continued, completely ignoring Phoebe's outburst, "and he's constantly trying to either kill my friends here or conquer the world, depending what time of the year it is. I've recently found out that I am destined/prophesised to stop him, basically the He-Man to his Skeletor."

Prue looked at him with a tongue in cheek expression. "You look nothing like Dolph Lundgren."

"I'm treating that comment with the contempt it deserves and don't even get me started on that film, if it weren't for Courtney Cox it would be the worst film ever made, including Psycho Beach Party. As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," he said, earning him another mystical slap, "he doesn't really like the thought of having someone around that can stop him, so he sent his best assassins to take me out. Those were the guys you met last night."

"You killed them," Paige said with an accusing tone.

"We don't go around killing anyone that gets in our way," Xander replied defensively and slightly angry, "but demons in general are evil; they have no soul or conscience so there is no way to rehabilitate them the way a human could be. If we had let them go they would have just come back again and again until they killed us all."

Paige actually felt better by his response, as she could tell it was honest and not put on for show. "I suppose I'm gonna have to accept that right now, but if I find out you're lying to me…" she trailed off but everyone could tell what she meant.

"The guy that got you to safety is a cop, the best in the city," Prue stated, trying to convince her of their innocence, "he'd've arrested the lot of us if he thought that there was any other way we could have stopped them."

Paige could almost feel her sincerity so she relented. "Alright, I'll take your word for it. If they were demons, how could Cole could do the same thing they could, and how was Piper able to stop them from moving?"

"We're getting to that," Xander said, trying to hold off explaining Cole until they had to, especially after his little 'demons are evil' speech, "but we're trying not to give you too much information at the same time so you can process it better."

"It's going to take me more than a couple of minutes to process what you've told me so far," Paige replied, her comment the understatement of the year, "but I need to know all of it before I can start getting my head around it all."

"I get that so I'll explain the freezing thing first and lead you in to what Cole did as that's a little easier on the manor. Just as demons are real, so are witches and that's what Piper, Phoebe and Prue are, in the mystical sense not the emotional. Witches in general are the good guys and you can't get much gooder than these lovely ladies here." That comment earnt him three beaming smiles from the sisters and two eye rolls from Leo and Cole. "As well as being able to cast magic, they also each have a unique power; Prue can move objects with her mind or a motion of her hands, Phoebe has premonitions and can levitate, and Piper is able to freeze people."

Paige's response to that was a very cynical "Uh huh."

"I know this is hard to believe, but it's the truth. I guess the best way to prove it is to give you a demonstration. Prue, do you want to go first?" he asked politely.

"Sure, why not," Prue responded, shrugging her shoulders.

Inwardly she was a little apprehensive, as she normally used her power to throw things around, or as she had done earlier to hit someone when she couldn't reach them. Not wanting to do either of those, she motioned to a small vase that had managed to remain undamaged during the skirmish yesterday and, keeping a tight control on her power, lifted it slowly into the air and over to Paige.

"Whoah!" Paige exclaimed, her eyes wide at the sight of the floating vase.

Prue smiled at her response. "Pretty cool isn't it? Normally my power is used for offence so I'm exerting more control than usual, as I didn't think you'd want it smacking you in the head."

"You thought right about that. Okay, colour me impressed."

Piper stood up, "I'll go next."

Piper waved her hands and the room froze, all except for her sisters and Xander. Through an unspoken agreement, they all switched places before Piper unfroze the others.

"That is more than a little freaky," Paige stated whilst trying to calm her nerves at suddenly seeing the four of them switch places. "How come Xander moved as well?"

"I'm pretty much immune to their magic, part of my whole dealy thing against Malcolm in the Middle. The only other ones that are immune are other active witches."

Phoebe stood up nervously, as the only power she could use on demand was still new to her. "My turn I guess." Phoebe closed her eyes for a couple for seconds to centre herself, and she began to slowly rise up off the ground. "This is pretty new to me so I don't have a lot of control over it at the moment."

"Works for me," Paige whispered, awestruck at the site of a woman floating several feet off the ground. "I'm sure that there's a panic attack with my name on it waiting for me in a couple of hours but right now consider me a believer. So is Cole a witch as well?"

"No," Cole replied, deciding to field this one himself, "although if I were I'd be a warlock not a witch. I'm a demon."

"Again with the bluntness," Xander groaned, knowing this wouldn't end well.

"A demon? A demon like the ones that tried to kill me demon? A demon as in no soul really evil demon?" she asked in rapid succession.

Every question Paige said came out a little higher and faster than the last as she started to stand up, and everyone could see that she was trying but failing to inconspicuously move further away from Cole.

"I'm half-demon, which means that I have a soul and the capability for good like any human. I'm not going to lie to you Paige, I used to work for the Source."

"The guy that wants Xander here dead?" Paige asked.

"Yes."

"Why are you still alive then?" she asked, the question sounding logical considering what Xander had said previously.

Cole shocked everyone by laughing, "honestly I sometimes wonder that myself." Strangely that calmed Paige down slightly and she stopped moving away from him. "As I said, I used to work for the Source, but I don't anymore. From the moment I was born, my demon half suppressed my human half, and the training I received made me not care one way or the other. I became the best assassin the Source had and for the best part of a hundred years I killed without hesitation or remorse. Then a few months ago I was given the task of killing the Charmed Ones…"

"That would be us," Piper supplied.

"Again, why is he still alive?"

"… To do it I had to start using my human half more that I ever had before." Cole continued, thinking it better not to comment on what either woman said. "The control the demon half had started to diminish and I began to feel, both the good and the bad. Do you know what it is like to finally start feeling remorse for nearly a century of killing? I probably would have gone insane if I hadn't been feeling another emotion just as strong; love."

Cole's eyes locked with Phoebe's for a moment before he continued. "Being around Phoebe helped me more than even she knows; there came a time when I had to choose between following the Source's orders or following my heart. I was scared about what the Source would do to me if I disobeyed his orders but when it came right down to it I couldn't kill the woman I loved. Since then he's sent trackers after me but I've managed to stay one step ahead. I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of, and no matter how hard I try, I know I can never make up for it all, but that won't stop me from trying."

Phoebe went over to him and hugged him fiercely whilst trying desperately to suppress the tears she could feel forming in her eyes. "I love you," she whispered in his ear.

"I hope so, because I love you too," he whispered in reply.

Paige watched the pair and could see the love they have for each other in their eyes. She may not know about demons, but she did know about evil, and in her experience nothing evil could have that look for anyone other than themselves. "I believe you Cole, sorry I overreacted."

"Don't worry about it," he replied, happy to hear she believed him, "I could have been more tactful in revealing what I am to you. One of the problems with having the demon in control as long as it was is that the social niceties that you're taught are lost on me a lot of the time."

"Cole's right, demons don't have the same need for etiquette the way we do, it took me a while to coach Anya on…" Xander trailed off and Prue went over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder for support.

Paige knew enough to not comment on it, at least not now. "Okay," she began, trying to change the topic slightly, "witches and demons are real and I'm in the presence of both. As I said before, expect a full-blown panic attack somewhere in the near future. Anything else I need to know?"

Xander recognised what she was doing as he'd done it himself enough times and smiled at her in thanks. "There are a couple of things but I'll go through them with you while the others are making statements to the cops." He turned his attention to Leo and the others, "how have you decided to explain away the extra ventilation the manor has?"

"We're still working on it," Leo replied, "but I know that between us and Darryl, we'll smooth everything over." He turned to look at Paige, "there is one thing we need to explain to you Paige before we go; you need to keep all this to yourself."

"Why?"

"Several reasons;" Xander responded, continuing his role as spokesperson, "one, if you go around telling everyone that witches and demons exist expect to spend time in a padded cell, a friend of mine spent time in an institution because she tried to tell her parents the truth about vampires…"

"Vampires are real too?" she asked incredulously.

"… Uh, yeah," Xander answered, cursing himself slightly for bringing that up on top of everything else, "but we'll cover that later if you want. Anyway, people will generally think you've gone round the bend if you tell them and have you strapped into a straightjacket and thrown in a padded cell before you can say cuckoo. Two, the world is safer not knowing."

"Huh?"

Xander thought for a moment about the best way of explaining it before delving into his font of movie knowledge. "You seen Men in Black?"

"You're not going to tell me aliens are real as well are you?" she asked in a slightly worried tone.

Xander and the other laughed, understanding why she would ask that given everything else they've talked about so far this morning. "No, but that's not to say they don't; to the best of my knowledge I've never met any, although the principal at my school reminded me of a Ferengi. Do you remember the part where Tommy Lee Jones tells Will Smith that a person is intelligent but people are stupid?"

"Yeah," Paige responded, starting to see what he was getting at, "I've had some experience with mob mentality. Where I lived before moving here, there had been rumours about someone being a child molester. Within a couple of days half the town was trying to knock the guys house down and beat him to death. If it weren't for the cops coming and breaking it up they would have succeeded. It was later proved that he was innocent and it had been a child he had annoyed making up stories, but by then the damage had been done and he had to move away."

"If the truth was revealed to the general public, you'd see things a thousand times worse happening, not just here but all over the world. Our best advantage is that the demon world doesn't want the general public to know about the truth anymore than we do, we'll lose that if everything comes out. Three, there are people, mainly those that work for the government, that would want to capture dissect us to try and find out how we can do the things we do. Or they'd try and brainwash us so we'll do what they want, which would basically be using our powers against other countries. Strange as it may seem I don't want to be cut up by some scientist or turned into a mindless slave, again."

"The government wouldn't do that," Paige stated emphatically, "it goes against everything they stand for. And what do you mean by again?"

Xander's voice became hard as he remembered what happened last year. "They will and they have. Last year where I live we had to deal with a government experiment gone wrong; think Frankenstein but supercharged up the wazoo. They had built it using a mixture of human, demon and technology. The army lost a lot of good men because they tried to meddle in things they should leave well alone, so believe me when I tell you that the government can and will interfere given the chance. As to what I meant by again, I became Dracula's Renfield for the new millennium. Believe me when I tell you that losing control over your actions is not fun."

"You're kidding right?" Paige asked/pleaded.

"Why would I make something like that up?" was Xander's terse response.

"Good point. You have my word that I'll keep this to myself, but if I think keeping quiet will put someone I care about in danger all bets are off." Paige was slightly unnerved by Xander's tone, wondering what she had said to annoy him.

"We wouldn't ask for anything more." He noticed that way Paige and the others were looking at him and realised that he may have come on a bit strong before. "I'm sorry if I sounded harsh about the military thing, it's just that a friend of mine was captured by them and would have been killed or worse if Buffy hadn't managed to get him out."

"Buffy?"

Xander's features darkened slightly when he thought of the blonde Slayer. "Someone I used to know."

Leo checked his watch and noticed that they were going to be late to their meeting with Darryl. "We gotta get to the precinct otherwise Darryl will start to get it in the neck."

Piper nodded in agreement with her fiancé before turning her attention to Paige and Xander. "Are you two going to be okay?"

Xander looked at Paige quickly before nodding. "Yeah, I'll keep Paige here entertained until you return." He turns to Paige once more, "maybe go for a walk later?"

"Sure, it might help me work all this stuff out."

Everyone seemed to be happy with that answer so by unspoken agreement they all got up and make their way to the front door. After the obligatory goodbyes the sisters, Leo and Cole leave for the precinct, and Xander and Paige returned to the living room.

Paige waited a couple of seconds before turning to Xander, "so, what else did you want to tell me?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Xander replied.

"I'm a care worker, I've been trained to tell when people want to talk but don't know where to start. So?"

Xander tried to stall for time, not ready to tell her about her true heritage. "Before I get into that, which means I've just admitted that there is something to talk about, I want to go into who/what I am."

"Are you a demon as well?" she asked, feeling strange that she wasn't joking.

"Last time I checked I'm 100 human," he replied, an odd expression sweeping over his face for a moment.

"So what can you do?"

"My title is 'The One Who Sees' and that in itself kinda explains what I can do. I have knowledge of the powers and weaknesses of everyone involved in the war Prue and the other are fighting in, be they good guys or bad. I'm immune to their powers and magic, which was why I didn't freeze with the rest of you during Piper's demonstration. I can cast spells and make potions, but I'd prefer not to unless necessary as I've not had a great track record with it so far. I have some other abilities but they aren't to do with this war."

"This war?"

"There's more than one war going on between good and evil. The head honchos on both sides, they would be God and Lucifer, don't really get involved unless the sh… unless things get really bad for their side or one side cheats." Paige smiled in appreciation for his self-restraint. "They leave the day-to-day things to middle management, which is where the Source comes in. Because neither of them is stupid enough to give all the power to just one person, they split the war up. The war Prue and the others are in is between the Source and the Elders. Up until a few days ago I was involved in another war, between the First and the Powers That Be, and have been for nearly five years."

"Wait, you've been fighting for five years?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"You're what 19-20 years old, meaning you were still in High School!" she exclaimed, shocked that he could have been doing this since childhood.

"Hey," Xander replied, taking her comment as a slight against him, "it was either fight back or never graduate High School. My High School is the only one to have had an Obituary section in the school newspaper. I live in a town that has a portal to Hell slap bang in the middle of it, right under the library as a matter of fact. Once I found out why most of my friends were dying I couldn't just stand by and do nothing."

Paige realised he took what she said the wrong way. "I wasn't arguing with you about anything, I'm just shocked is all."

Xander grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I have a habit of being around people who think I should keep out of the fight 'for my own good', I've started to get testy about the subject."

"I understand I think, I wouldn't like to be told not to stay out of something, especially something I believe in. So you said you have some other abilities?"

"Yeah; I'm stronger and faster then normal, I heal faster too. My senses are sharper, oh and I can make my eyes glow green."

"Cool, can I see?" she asked excitedly.

Xander shrugged his shoulders. "Sure." He concentrated for a moment and his eyes started to glow.

"You sure you're still human?"

Xander reverted his eyes back to their original colour. "As I said, last time I checked. You can be human and still have special abilities; Prue, Piper and Phoebe are all human but they can still do things that most humans can't. Leo was human before he became a Whitelighter…"

"Whitelighter?"

"… Oh yeah we didn't cover that before did we? All witches are assigned a Whitelighter; they're basically a guardian angel, given the task of aiding and protecting their charges against the things that want them dead. Leo is the sisters' Whitelighter, oh yeah he's also Piper's fiancé."

Paige then remembered something. "What did you mean he _was_ human?"

"You can only be chosen to become a Whitelighter after you die."

"Oh. And he's marrying Piper?" she asked.

"It's complicated."

"Life generally is."

"There is something else I wanted to talk to you about," Xander hedged, "but I don't know whether now is the best time."

"Why not?"

"Information overload."

"Why don't you try me and we'll go from there," Paige said, thinking it couldn't be any worse than what she's already been told.

"Right. You know I told you I can tell what powers a person has?"

"You only just told me a minute ago, my memory isn't that bad."

"Right, sorry. Well, I can tell you about your powers if you like."

"Huh?" she responded, cursing herself silently for jinxing herself.

"I can tell you about the powers you have, or can have to be precise," he reiterated.

"I don't have any powers."

"You do," he responded, softly but firmly, "but they're dormant at the moment, that's why you haven't been aware of them. The powers you have are inherited from your biological parents."

Paige's eyes widened to the size of saucers when he mentioned her biological parents. "You know who they are?"

"Yes, I do," he said, knowing how desperately she wanted to find out about her heritage.

"Who are they? Where are they? Why did they abandon me?"

Xander placed his hands on her shoulders in an effort to calm her down, "Paige, I promise you I'll answer all of your questions as best I can, but you need to calm down. Your parents were forbidden to be together, but they defied orders and you were the result. They were worried what would happen if anyone found you, so they gave you up so you would be safe. If they could have kept you they would have, but it was simply too dangerous for them to do so. As to where they are, I'm afraid that your mother died a few years after you were born and your father hasn't been heard of since. I know he's still alive but other than that I have no idea."

"You still haven't told me who my real parents are."

Xander pinned her with a reproachful look. "Your 'real' parents were the ones who raised you Paige, and saying differently throws everything they did for you right in their faces. Your biological father's name was Sam Wilder; your biological mother's name was Patricia… Halliwell."

"H.Halliwell?" she all but whispered, stammering slightly in shock at the revelation.

"Halliwell," Xander confirmed. "Sam was her Whitelighter, and back then it was forbidden for a Whitelighter to get romantically involved with their charges. However, love can overcome almost any obstacle and they did, until she found out she was pregnant with you. The Elders, while the good guys, don't always see the small picture for the big, and your parents knew that if they found out about you, things would not end pleasantly. So, when you were born, they did the hardest thing either of them ever had to do, give you up for adoption."

"Do…"

"No," Xander answered before she had a chance to finish the question, "not yet anyway. Leo and Cole know; I needed to check something out with them, which was why I had them follow me into the kitchen before. When the others come back I want to tell them about you, but I thought you deserved to know the truth first."

"So I have powers?" she asked in a mixture of worry and excitement, also in an attempt to keep her mind off of everything else.

"As I said, they're dormant at the moment, but if you like I can help you activate them. Your powers will be different to your sisters…"

"Oh my god I have sisters!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, the realisation of it finally sinking in.

"… I wondered when that would sink in." Xander said in amusement.

"Sorry about that," Paige said, blushing slightly at her outburst,

"Don't worry about it, I'd act the same way. I haven't known them long but you couldn't ask for better family."

"Thanks, I can't wait to find out. So, you were telling me about my powers?"

"Yeah, and excellent subject change by the way."

"I thought so."

"Well," he began, "you're both witch and Whitelighter so your powers will reflect that; you'll be able to cast magic like a witch and orb like a Whitelighter."

"Orb?" she asked.

"Teleport," Xander explained, once again dipping into his knowledge of sci-fi, "like Star Trek but without the technology. There is a pretty lightshow that goes with it though, I've seen it a couple of times and it's an amazing sight."

"How can you activate them?"

"That's the simple part; I get you to lay your hand on a spell book upstairs, which has been in your family for generations, while I say a small incantation and it's done."

"That's it?" she asked, thinking it strange that it would be so easy.

"That's it," he confirmed. "If you don't want to now you don't have to, in fact you never have to activate your powers if that's what you wish, but if you're gonna stay around the others it might be wise to have them. I'm talking from experience here; hanging around superheroes means being caught in the middle of whatever baddie of the week decides to make their lives miserable. You start to feel real useless real quick without something extra to back you up."

"How can you be speaking from experience, you said you've got all these abilities…"

"I didn't know I had most of these powers until a few days ago," he explained, "and I've only had the others for a few months." Xander paused for a moment, "or years depending on which set of memories I go by."

"Huh?"

"Another long story concerning monks and keys. I'd rather not get into it at the moment as it's still a little raw for me." Xander stood up and stretched, something that got him an appreciative look from Paige. "How about we take that walk now, allowing you some time to think about what you want to do, then we'll come back and wait for the others to return. I also need to get myself something to eat, I haven't eaten in a couple of days and my stomach is seriously pissed with me about it." He extended his hand to her to help her up.

"Sure, why not," she said, accepting his hand.

**Demon Underworld.**

Pretorius walked into the Source's lair with Buffy in tow, pulling her along via a chain attached to the manacles she was wearing, replacing the rope that Spike had bound her with. Once he was a few feet away from him, Pretorius went down one knee and bowed his head.

"You called for me my lord?" he asked respectfully.

The Source managed to suppress an eye roll at his underlings exaggerated posturing, "yes Pretorius, I have a task for you."

"Your wish is my command my lord," he responded.

"Of course it is," the Source replied drolly. "I want you to meet up with young Alexander and inform him that Elizabeth is making use of my hospitality, due to William's kind assistance. Tell him that I will meet him tomorrow at midnight to discuss Elizabeth's continued existence; I think it is finally time I meet the person that is destined to destroy me and see what all the fuss is about. Leave Elizabeth here, I wish to speak with her."

"I will seek him out at once my lord." Pretorius left immediately, but not before securing the chain attached to Buffy's restraints to the wall, Buffy glaring at him but making no move to resist without her Slayer abilities to help her.

"You do realise that Xander's going to kill him," Buffy said as soon as Pretorius was out of sight.

"That is extremely possible, yes," the Source responded in a nonchalant tone of voice.

"Then why send him?" Buffy asked, not really sure why she's talking to the person that had her abducted apart from being bored out of her mind.

"Pretorius has become tiresome to me; his sycophantic posturing has become more than even I can take and I enjoy people treating me that way, it is a perk of being the boss after all."

He started walking to and fro in front of her, as though he were collecting his thoughts. "He might not act like it but he is rather intelligent; I am sure that he has plans in place should I show dissatisfaction with him, and while I'm not to worried about whatever pitiful attempt he might make to overthrow me, it doesn't mean I want to put myself through it. Do you know how many attempts to my throne I've thwarted over the years? If I had a dollar for every time someone tried to take my place I'd be a wealthy man, well an even wealthier man. Having Alexander to deal with him for me simply saves me the trouble. If Pretorius does somehow manage to return unharmed, I shall dispatch him personally, I just thought I'd give him a sporting chance."

"You remind me of someone, he was just as insane as you are. A bit of trivia for you, it was Xander that planned how to kill him as well."

"I am sure that Richard would be glowing with the praise you have bestowed upon him," he responded, knowing exactly to whom she was referring, "saying that he resembled someone as magnificent as myself. As to your other point, I am more than well aware who planned Richard's demise, and I am sure that he was grateful to you and the others when you acknowledged his contribution. Of course, as he isn't a vampire, I'm sure the thought to thank him never crossed your mind." The Source had an ever-increasing smile appear on his face as he was talking to Buffy, amused by the anger that was quickly building in her eyes.

"You know nothing about me!" Buffy screamed at him, momentarily losing control of her emotions.

"I beg to differ Elizabeth," he replied, happy to have gotten to her so easily, "I happen to know a great deal about you and the other, now what was the term? Oh yes, Scooby's. I know everything that has happened to you since the moment you were called to duty by those 'bastions for good', the Powers That Be. You see, I have always believed that knowledge is power; if on the off chance that you and the other champions the Powers That Be have recruited defeated my counterpart the First, I would need to know who to look out for in the future. I have always worried about poor Julius; ever since he lost his ability to take physical form in the plane of existence he just hasn't been the same. I told him not to play poker with Barbus but did he listen?"

"Is there a point to all this?" Buffy asked, her genuine confusion causing her anger to dissipate a little.

"I did get off track slightly didn't I? I'm not even sure why I'm talking to you," he lied, "I just feel in the mood to communicate with someone who won't bow down and lick my boots."

"I feel honoured," she deadpanned.

"You should," he told her seriously, "normally I kill those that feel about me the way you do in the most… colourful of ways. Now as I am in such a talkative mood, I have something to say, and I hope that this stays between the two of us."

"Oh I swear; I'm waiting with baited breath to hear what you want to say."

"I was rather perturbed when I found out that Alexander was 'The One Who Sees'."

"Why?" Buffy asked, suddenly curious as to the answer.

"You really don't know do you?" he said in astonishment, a smile appearing on his face. "How glorious that I get to be the one that explains it to you. When it is necessary, young Alexander is without doubt one of the most ruthless human beings to have ever walked the Earth. His potential is almost immeasurable and, if circumstances were different, he would have made a first rate Lieutenant in my ranks. It's almost a shame that I have to kill him."

"You sound as though you like him!"

"I would say that 'like' is a strong term for what I feel about Alexander," he said, flames suddenly appearing in his eyes; "respect is a more accurate term and even then only in the most loosest use of the word. We may well be enemies Elizabeth, but that doesn't prevent me from appreciating excellent work when I read about it. He has been able to manipulate, although unfortunately only for the most noble of intentions, each and every one of you whilst keeping his 'inept goofball' persona intact on many occasions. He has been able to intimidate two master vampires and has a third enamoured with him, all direct descendants of the Master. That alone is enough to earn him respect among the demon community that live on the Hellmouth. Of course his treatment of that pack of Senicham demons that tried to kill your mother Joyce…"

"What! When did this happen?" she shouted, worried for her mother's safety even though the event happened years ago.

"When you neglected your sacred duty by wallowing in abstract misery in the City of Angels," he replied, ensuring to twist the knife into the still open wound that period of her life had caused, "because you had to end the life of a vampire to prevent the destruction of the world. By the way that was not your finest moment by any stretch of the imagination, but it did give my counterpart a few laughs. In fact, it lightened his mood considerably. Of course after a century or two of listening to Liam brood about every single thing, he had no choice but to send him back to Earth just to get some peace and quiet."

"What about my mother being attacked by demons?" Buffy bit out, ignoring his jibes at Angel.

"I did it again didn't I? I must apologise," he said in a tone that was anything but apologetic, "my conversation skills have gotten rusty over the centuries I'm afraid. Getting back to the subject at hand, Alexander was given information from that bartender Willard about an attempt on your mother's life and, being the upstanding fellow that he is, immediately raced over to her house to prevent it. Only one was there when he arrived and he managed to stop it from completing its task with the use of a large mace, a battleaxe and, strangely, a trashcan lid. Now if it had been any of the others that you had left behind to defend the town it would have ended there, but Alexander knew that the rest of the pack would want vengeance for their fallen pack member. With the help of a few homemade pipe bombs and a rapier he had 'appropriated' from Rupert's weapons locker, he ensured that there were no pack members left alive. A meeting was arranged the next night by the demon community and it was decided that no one would attempt to do something like that again while Alexander drew breath."

"Why are you telling me all this?" she asked, tears forming in her eyes.

"As I said, I'm feeling in a talkative mood."

"Bullshit."

"Such profanity from a lady, then again not many would consider you to be a lady would they?" he mocked. "You are right however that there is another reason why I'm telling you all this; I am evil after all and ulterior motives are in the job description. Unbeknownst to anyone else, I added a little something to the last batch of serum you were administered to keep those marvellous Slayer powers of yours in check. Since then, I have been able to read your thoughts. Oh don't worry," he said when he saw the look of panic enter her eyes, "I haven't been delving into your mind, as I doubt it would be all that entertaining. What I have been doing is listening in on your surface thoughts, which have primarily been about Alexander and the way you have treated him. At the moment I am greatly enjoying the haunted expression on your face now that you're realising the sheer magnitude of your mistake."

"What mistake?" she asked, still trying to hold onto the thought that she had been as much of a friend to Xander as he had been to her.

"The way you have mistreated your most staunchest ally of course. Until recently Alexander would have walked through the fires of Hell for you and you have rewarded that loyalty with rejection. What do you think Alexander's reaction will be when he finds out that William betrayed you and brought you here to me? That the soulless monster who has tried to kill you all on numerous occasions, who was trusted more than the man who has helped protect you for almost five years, turned on you just as he predicted he would? If it were me, I would probably leave you to rot, perhaps even help."

"Xander won't do that," she stated, although not with as much certainty as she would have done a couple of weeks ago.

"Oh I know that," he replied brightly, happy at the thought, "I wouldn't have gone to the trouble of making a deal with William if I thought he would desert you in your hour of need. His loyalty to those he considers a friend is his greatest weakness, besides his fragile mortality. If I were being completely honest with myself, I wouldn't have much of a chance against him if he didn't have that silly notion of honour in his head."

"You don't stand a chance anyway."

"Oh I do and it's all thanks to you. We both know that he will sacrifice himself if it means keeping you alive, no matter what the consequences. If it makes you feel any better, I promise that I shall kill him quickly and won't take any pleasure from the act. Although I am enjoying our little chat, especially when I have been doing most of the talking, I do have some pressing matters to attend to, an evildoers job is never done and all that. If you need anything, some food or drink, don't hesitate to keep it to yourself."

With that the Source left his lair, leaving Buffy alone to think about everything that had been said.

**Strybing Arboretum,  
Golden Gate Park,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Xander and Paige were walking through the Arboretum in companionable silence, each allowing the other to simply enjoy the flowers surrounding them. As they entered a secluded area, Xander felt the presence of a demon and span round suddenly, coming face to face with Pretorius.

"Hello Alexander, my name is…"

"Pretorius, I know," he said, cutting his entrance off. "You're the Source's right hand man-bitch. So what did I do in a previous life to warrant being this close to a walking rectum, other than to kick your ass?" he asked.

"I still forget how much you know about us."

"You and the rest of the planet, now why are you here?" he said impatiently.

"You're not the most patient of people are you?" Pretorius responded, picking up on Xander's tone.

"You have ten seconds before you find out what you'd look like turned inside out."

"Do you know someone by the name of William the Bloody?"

"I know a _thing_ called William the Bloody, what about it?"

"Well William delivered a present to my master, one that he thought you would be interested in."

"I'm not interested in anything that Spike does," Xander stated emphatically, his feelings for the vampire coming through loud and clear.

"My master thought you would on this occasion as the gift was one Elizabeth Anne Summers, otherwise known as Buffy."

"I swear," Xander growled, being physically held back by Paige, "if you or anyone else has harmed so much as a strand of hair on her head…"

"She is safe and sound, for the time being. My master cordially invites you to meet with him tomorrow at midnight, where you will be able to discuss the fate of your friend. Shall I deliver a message to him for you?"

"Yes," Xander said as he suddenly surged forward faster than Pretorius could react. Before he had a chance to defend himself, Xander grabbed his head and twisted violently, snapping his neck and making him look like Linda Blair's stunt double in the Exorcist.

"I accept."


	21. Chapter Twenty One

_**Chapter Twenty One**_

**Strybing Arboretum,  
Golden Gate Park,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Pretorius' body slumped to the floor, before disappearing in a swirl of green mist. As Xander turned to Paige, she took one look at his pulsating green eyes before going to scream at the top of her lungs. She didn't get a chance however as Xander managed to put a hand over her mouth before she could make a sound.

Seeing the way that she was staring at him he realised his eyes had changed colour again and he made a concerted effort to revert them to normal. Once he felt that he'd succeeded, he spoke to Paige as calmly and soothingly as possible. "I know it was a shock to see me do that," he told her softly, "but screaming isn't a good thing to be doing right now. If I take my hand away, are you gonna control yourself?"

Paige was still shocked by what she had just seen, but had calmed down enough to nod in reply. Xander took his hand away slowly, and it was at that point Paige realised that he hadn't stopped her from running, but simply had his hand covering her mouth. The realisation that he hadn't been restraining her made her feel better about him, but not about what he had done.

"Why'd you kill him, he didn't even make a move to hurt you?" she asked, her mind conflicted between the man who's company she'd been enjoying the last couple of hours, and the man that had just violently killed another being without provocation or remorse.

Xander began walking quickly through the arboretum, wanting to get back to the manor, Paige managing to keep pace beside him. "Do you want me to explain how he was evil incarnate and wouldn't have hesitated in killing both of us if he had an opening, or do you want the truth?" he asked, his tone light.

"The truth," she replied, "although the other reason sounds just as valid given everything I've been told."

"Oh they are," Xander confirmed, "they just weren't why I did it at that moment. I killed him because he's a demon, I was angry, and it would make me feel better. Just so you know it did by the way," he added, "I'm feeling a lot better."

Paige was shocked by the answer; the fact he had just admitted to killing someone to make him feel better was not endearing him to her. "Oh."

"Back in Sunnydale," Xander continued, "whenever I had some tension that needed to be released, I'd either have lots of sex with Anya or go out on patrol and dust some vamps. With Anya dead and San Francisco a vampire-free zone, apart from one soon to be dusted exception, I haven't had those luxuries and with everything I've gone through the last few days I've really needed to release some tension."

Paige still couldn't tell whether he was joking, insane, or a bit of both. "Had you thought about talking it over with someone instead of killing something, you know like normal people do?"

"Oh yeah," he snorted, "I can go to a shrink and say 'my girlfriend has been killed by a demon after telling him that I was the one prophesised to kill him, I just found out all of my friends trust a vampire more than me in protecting someone I consider to be a sister, and I have a hell goddess out for my blood as she's been told I know the whereabouts of the only thing that can send her home, all in the last week or so'. As we told you earlier, telling someone who's not in the know about what we do will only get you an extended stay in an institution. Although I'm sure the facilities in a place like that are second to none, I'd rather put off trying them out until after my first divorce. Apart from the very occasional exception, demons are evil. Pretorius was definitely in that category and no one's going to be crying over his rotting corpse."

Paige was now shocked that he'd managed to function at all, given what he'd just casually told her. She herself has had a lot happen to her the last twenty-four hours, but most of that had been to open her eyes to a whole new world and a whole new family. Xander had lost not only his girlfriend, but all of his friends as well. Practically his entire life had been destroyed in the space of a week, and here he was acting as though it were an everyday occurrence.

She knew from professional experience that keeping everything bottled up the way he seemed to be doing was not the healthiest option, so she tried to think of something to help him. "How about talking to someone who is in the know, someone who will better understand what you're going through?"

"Not counting you, everyone I know who's aware of the real world already knows about what I'm going through, either through causing it or witnessing it, and they all deal with things the same way I do," he replied, allowing her to see what a predicament he was in.

By talking to someone who didn't know about the world Xander lived in, they would consider him insane and lock him away 'for his own protection', and most of the people who did know were probably in as much need of someone as Xander.

"Anyway," Xander continued, "even if there was someone I could talk to about everything I've gone through the last few years, I wouldn't."

"Why not?" she asked.

"I come from Sunnydale," he responded, as though it were obvious, "look, I know this is all new to you, but living the life that I do you learn to either weather the storm or become another victim."

"I can kinda understand that, but I'm still not happy with the whole 'killing something to make you feel better' thing you've got going. Last night those demons would have killed all of us had Cole and the others not managed to stop them, but they had been trying to kill us. All that guy Pretentious had done was deliver a message, admittedly not a good message, but he made no move to hurt either of us and you snapped his neck without warning and did it because it made you feel better. You can see why I'd consider that less than normal behaviour can't you?"

"His name was Pretorius by the way, but yes I can see what you mean. I know using violence as a pressure valve isn't normal, but if you haven't guessed already neither am I. Paige, you can't treat demons the same way you do other humans, as you'll end up dead, or worse one of them. He might not have done anything to us _this_ time, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't next time, to us or someone else. By killing him now I've made sure that he didn't kill anyone in the future."

"Who are you, George Bush? 'Oh no, they might attack us, lets get them first'." She mocked.

"The difference is," he replied not rising to the bait, "the demons actually _will_ attack us, and killing them first is sometimes the only way to stay alive to see another sunrise. You can't waste time finding evidence that a demon has killed before dealing with it, because if we did the world would have been destroyed or overrun by now. Until you've had more experience with the demon world, you'll never truly understand what it's like and why we do the things we do. I could spend hours debating the pros and cons, but we'll never agree until you've experienced it first hand."

"Okay, I'll agree to disagree for the time being. What are we going to do about your friend… Buffy was it? Didn't I hear you mention her before?"

"Yeah, as I said she's someone I used to know," he said emphasising the 'used to'.

"You're gonna help her though, right?" she asked, uncertain whether he would.

Xander suddenly stopped and span round to face her, an astonished look on his face. "Of course!" he shouted, causing people to turn and look at the couple.

"Sorry," she said, "it's just that I haven't exactly been getting good vibes off you whenever she's been mentioned."

"Not surprising, we've recently had a disagreement about what is considered the correct way to treat a friend and ally."

"Oh." Paige could tell that there was more to do with it than that, but decided that it was best left alone for the time being.

Xander started walking again, Paige quickly following suit. "I know that doesn't tell you much," Xander said apologetically, "but that's all I can actually say about the subject. I may not like her at the moment, but I would never allow anything bad happen to her if I'm able to prevent it."

"So what now?" she asked.

"Pretorius' body should materialise in Malcolm's lair, which he'll take as my answer, so he'll be expecting me tomorrow at midnight," he responded. "I don't like disappointing people so I'll just have to keep the appointment."

"You're not going alone are you?" she asked, concerned for his wellbeing.

"If you'd asked me a couple of weeks ago you wouldn't have got an answer, as I'd already be on my way to kill everyone and everything in my sight until she was safely in my arms."

Paige now realised there was a lot more to this than he was letting on, as that wasn't the sort of thing you say about a friend, although it looked like he wasn't aware of his choice of words.

"And now?"

"Now the answer is 'hell no, I'm gonna call in the cavalry'. Come on, we need to get back to the manor, there are a couple of phone calls I gotta make."

**The Magic Box,  
Sunnydale,  
California.**

Giles, Joyce and the others were all still sitting around the table in the shop going through every book Giles had at his disposal, looking for anything that might be helpful in finding Buffy, when the phone started ringing.

Giles got up with a start, the sudden interruption to the silence that was permeating the shop making him jump, and he took a couple of calming breaths and a cursory wipe of his glasses before answering. "Hello Magic Box, Rupert Giles speaking."

"Hello Mr. Giles, it's Xander."

Giles winced at the formal and almost unfeeling way that Xander greeted him, but tried to maintain a happy tone. "Xander? It's nice to hear…"

"No time for pleasantries," Xander said abruptly, cutting him off, "I know that Buffy is missing."

"Phoebe told you then."

"No," Xander said confused, "one of the Source's flunkies delivered the message to me. Spike took her and gave her to the Source as a gift. He's using her to get to me."

"Are you going to rescue her?" he asked, instantly realising his mistake.

"How can you ask me a question like that?" Xander all but growled out, finding it hard to keep from shouting at the older man, "I maybe mad at her, and you for that matter, but I would never allow her to be hurt or killed because of it!"

"I'm sorry Xander, I didn't mean to suggest…" his attempt to apologise was cut off once again by Xander.

"Forget it," Xander sighed, his anger deflating as fast as it emerged, "I'll give you that due to the amount of stress you must be under."

"Thank you," Giles replied, knowing that he had gotten off lightly only because there were more important things to discuss, "although I'm certainly not the only one to be under a certain amount of pressure at the moment. I have to ask this Xander, how are you going to handle this, you can't just give yourself up."

"I know that," he said, trying hard not to snap at the ex-Watcher, "he'll just kill us both and I don't intend on dying just yet. That was the reason I was phoning, I'm going to send Cole and Leo to get you and the others."

"Leo can't come to the Hellmouth," Giles pointed out unnecessarily.

"No he can't, but he can go to LA and get Angel and the gang. Cole's the one coming for you, he'll be there this evening, giving you time to gather whatever you think you might need. Someone will ring to let you know when and arrange a place to collect you."

"We'll be ready." Giles paused for a moment, considering whether to bring up his parents yet or not. "Xander…"

"Now is not the time Mr. Giles; once everything is sorted we'll have a chat, but right now we need to concentrate on the job at hand."

Giles never thought he'd miss being called G-Man, but now there was nothing he'd like more. "I understand. I'll see you soon Xander."

"Bye," was all Xander said before hanging up.

Giles just stood there, listening to the dial tone for a while, wondering if his relationship with the young man he considered a son could ever be reconciled.

"Why didn't you tell him about his parents?" Joyce asked as Giles put the receiver down.

When she saw the hurt look Giles had on his face she felt bad for him, guessing that Xander hadn't been very pleasant, but knew that he'd brought it on himself.

"He was in no mood to speak to me, I could tell he was making an effort just to be civil and wanted to get off the phone as soon as possible. He rang to tell us he knows who has Buffy."

"Was it Spike?" Dawn asked, still hoping that she was wrong and he had nothing to do with it. She still couldn't believe that Spike would do something like that, as he'd always been so nice to her.

"Yes, Spike was the one to take her I'm afraid Dawn. It appears that he has allied himself with the Source and it was for him that he took her."

"He wants to trade Buffy for Xander," Willow quickly deduced.

"That appears to be the case, but both Xander and I know that he won't keep his end of the bargain even if Xander agreed to his terms."

"Xander's not going to leave her at the Source's mercy is he?" she asked, causing the others to look at her as though she suddenly grew a second head.

Giles softened his look when he realised he had made the same mistake himself. "No Willow he's not; I was silly enough to voice a similar question and he was appalled that I could think so little of him, and right to do so. He isn't going to just hand himself over as the Source will undoubtedly kill them both, he's sending Cole to retrieve us later today and sending Leo to fetch Angel and the others from Los Angeles so we can all help devise a plan of action."

"Its no wonder Xander wants nothing to do with you," Dawn said angrily in defence of her crush, "if that's what you think of him."

"You're right," Giles replied, "I feel we may have burned our bridges with him beyond repair."

"Not _we_ Rupert," Joyce said with a pointed look, "Dawn and I were as much in the dark about this as he was."

"Yes, I know. I am surprised you're as calm about it as you are."

"Believe me I am far from calm about this," she said, her voice rising slightly and growing harder, "the only thing stopping me from throttling the lot of you is that getting Buffy back is more important to me. Once she is safe and sound, we will all be having a conversation about your habit of keeping important information concerning my daughters from me."

The look that Giles, Willow and Tara were receiving reminded them of the look Buffy had in her eyes just before she shoved a stake through the heart of a vampire, realizing that it was a Summers trait and not a Slayer one. "As there's nothing more to do for the time being, I think I'll go home and do some housecleaning as I've left it the last couple of days. Come on Dawn."

"Can't I stay here?" she whined, not wanting to leave.

"I don't want you out of my sight at the moment." her mother replied.

Dawn knew how worried she'd been about Buffy, even though she'd been trying to hide it from her, and her own situation was only adding to her worry so she nodded in acceptance and started packing her things up.

"Let me know when to be here, we're coming with you."

"Joyce, do you think…"

"Unless the next words out of your mouth are 'of course'," Joyce said cutting him off, "I suggest you don't say anything."

"Of course."

Joyce nodded in satisfaction and left with Dawn, leaving a relieved looking Giles behind.

**Hyperion Hotel,  
Los Angeles,  
California.**

Cordelia was just about to get herself another coffee, her fifth so far, when the phone started ringing. Composing herself and putting on her best PA voice, she answered it. "Angel Investigations, we help the hopeless."

"Hi Cordy." Cordelia smiled at hearing Xander's voice.

"Xander! How are you?" She instantly regretted asking him that, how did she expect him to be, full of the joys of spring? "Sorry, I didn't mean…"

"Don't worry Cor, I know what you meant. Given everything that's happened I'm okay, but once everything's blown over I'm expecting a long period of depression interspersed with bouts of anger and self-loathing. It's been a while since we've talked," he said, trying to sound upbeat, "how goes everything for my favourite sparring partner?"

"Too much to talk about on the phone," she replied, maintaining the pretence that nothing was wrong for his benefit, "we have to meet up and talk in person. Don't tell anyone, but I kinda miss having you around to insult."

"Well that's partly what I've rung about, is Angel there? I need to speak to him." She was surprised that he wanted to speak to Angel, given that he never wanted to be in the same hemisphere as the souled vampire, but decided against commenting, as even she knew when to keep quiet.

"Yeah, I'll just put him on for you."

She transferred the call to Angel's office, Angel picking it up immediately.

"Hello?"

"Angel."

He recognised Xander's voice immediately. "Xander." Angel was surprised that Xander was calling him, but realised that it must be important and therefore tried to keep his natural animosity towards the boy to a minimum. "How can I help?"

"You know about Buffy?" he asked, not wanting to be on the phone any longer than necessary.

"Yeah, Giles thinks that Spike took her and asked us to keep an eye out."

"I know where Buffy is, want to help get her back?"

Angel wasted no time in responding. "When and where?"

"Get everything you think you and the others will need ready for this evening. I'll send Leo to come get you; he's a Whitelighter, basically a guardian angel, so the demon in you may not feel too happy in his presence. I'll ring later to confirm a time."

"We'll be ready and thanks for the heads up."

"Don't think this changes anything; I need your 'A' game on this and as much as I enjoy annoying you, this is more important."

"Understood." Angel said nothing for a moment. "I'm sorry about Anya."

"Thanks."

Xander put the phone down without saying goodbye, not that Angel expected any less. He left his office and walked over to Cordelia.

"What did the Doofus want?" she asked, knowing he wouldn't call to talk about the weather.

"We're going to San Francisco, Xander's sending someone to pick us up this evening so we need to get everything ready. Call Wes and Gunn and let them know the situation and tell them to be her in an hour."

"I'm on it. What's going on?" she asked while calling Wesley's cell phone.

"Xander knows where Buffy is and he wants help getting her back."

Cordelia was surprised that Xander asked for his help given their history. "It must be bad if he wants _your_ help."

"I know."

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

After getting off the phone with Angel, Xander and Paige started to make themselves useful by doing a little tidying. They didn't get very far before Prue and the others arrived back.

On hearing the door open, Xander went out to greet them, kinda. "I'm glad you're back, we have a situation."

"And hello to you too." Prue responded making it clear she wasn't amused with his greeting.

Being around as many women as he had, Xander recognised the tone immediately and went into damage control, putting on his best Xander Grin combined with his puppy dog eyes. "Sorry Prue, I didn't mean to be rude."

Prue was powerless against his two most powerful expressions and caved faster than her sisters had ever seen. "I'll let it slide this time, but there'll be some serious hitting of the Xander if you do it again. So what's up?"

"The Source has Buffy."

Xander knew he could have sugarcoated it a bit, but he just didn't have the energy.

Talking about Buffy of course reminds Phoebe of her conversation with Giles earlier in the day and rushes over to him. "Oh my god," she almost shouted in a panicky voice, "Xander I completely forgot what with everything that's happened but Giles rang earlier and said she'd been taken. You were still out from the spell and…" she was cut off by Xander when he smiled warmly at her whilst placing a hand on her shoulder to calm her down some.

"Don't worry about it Phoebe," he said, knowing why she acted that way.

"I just don't want you thinking I kept it from you on purpose."

"I'll admit it crossed my mind," he revealed, "but seeing how you reacted just then I know it wasn't intentional. You could have said nothing, hoping that I hadn't talked to Giles yet, but you didn't. It says a lot about the type of person you are that you told me."

"So you've talked to him?" Prue asked, surprised given his feelings towards them at the moment.

"Joyce and Dawn deserved to know what's going on if nothing else. I was civil and held my tongue but don't expect me to be all nice as pie when I see them again."

Everybody nodded in acknowledgement of that, feeling that they'd be the same in his place.

"What are we going to do?" Piper asked, getting things back on track, "I'm guessing the Source wants to do a swap, you for her?"

"That about sums it up." He could see their faces and could tell what they're thinking. "Don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to think he'd actually let her go willingly," he assured them, "so we'll just have to persuade him. Leo, Cole, I know this is going to be a strain on you, but do you think you'll be able to go get the others from Sunnydale and LA?"

They looked at each other for a moment before nodding in unison.

"That's a relief because I kinda already told them you would," he informed them with a guilty expression.

"I take it Leo will be going to LA while I get the Sunnydale group," Cole commented.

"It'll be easier that way," Xander said, agreeing with Cole's statement. "Leo, I haven't told you a lot about the LA group, but the leader Angel is a vampire."

Leo did a double take, trying to tell if he'd heard what he thought he heard. "What?"

"I know, believe me I find it strange and I've known him almost five years now. Basically around a century or so ago he fed on a Gypsy girl and her family cursed him with his soul. His story is a lot like Cole's; he used to be evil but now he's fighting the good fight on the road to redemption, the difference being that Cole has a personality and made the choice willingly. He's definitely on the side of the angels, pardon the pun, and so long as he doesn't experience a moment of perfect happiness he'll stay that way. Believe me when I say we're all better off that he keeps it."

"I take that to mean it's happened before. What caused him to lose his soul?" he asked.

"He had sex with Buffy," Xander told them, not quite managing to keep his own distaste out of his tone and expression.

The tone in his voice lets everyone know what he thinks about that little detail. Phoebe shuddered at the thought of having sex with a dead body.

"Eww!"

Prue looked at her strangely, "how can you say that Phoebe, you have sex with Cole. They're both demons."

"Yeah, but there's a difference." Phoebe put her arms around Cole, smiling instinctively. "Cole's alive; he was born just like we were. Vampires are nothing but animated corpses inhabited by a demon. I may have a few kinks in the bedroom department, but necrophilia is definitely not one of them."

Xander's had time over the years to think about this particular topic and has made peace with it, mostly. "If you love someone enough you can overcome any obstacle, you've got two prime examples right here. Look, she might not be one of my favourite people at the moment, but even I can't deny that they loved each other at the time; she didn't know he was a vampire when she first met him and by the time that happened she was already falling for him. I also know that they had no idea about the clause in his curse until after he lost it and, while Buffy might not have been able to control herself, I know he would never run the risk of letting Angelus loose."

"Yeah, but still…"

"Don't get me wrong," he said cutting her off, "I have as much trouble with the idea as you do, but as someone once said 'love makes you do the wacky'. I don't think any of us can truly take the high ground on this anyway; Cole may be alive but he is still a demon, Leo is technically dead and has been for nearly sixty years and Anya is, was, a millennia old former vengeance demon."

He know he had them there, as not one of them could say they have a conventional relationship so they didn't have a leg to stand on. They all took a look at each other, realising the truth in his words and decided that people in glasshouses shouldn't throw stones.

"You're right," Phoebe admitted, "sorry."

"Don't worry about it," he assured her, "I've done my fair share of Buffy/Angel bashing in the past, it used to be one of my favourite pastimes in fact, it's just that I've learned that if you don't let go of the past you don't have much chance of a future. Anyway Leo, the main reason I brought it up is because you and Angel might feel uneasy being around each other, I've already warned him so he's prepared. I might not like him but I do trust him, that and he knows I won't hesitate about dusting his brooding ass if he ever lost his soul again."

"Okay, I'll take your word for it, but he might not enjoy the orbing process."

"Not seeing a problem myself," Xander said with a grin, "as I said I trust him but I don't like him. Deadboy and I only interact when absolutely necessary and even then only the absolute minimum required."

"Is that who you were talking about that caused Buffy to glare at you when we first met?" Phoebe asked.

"Yep, she's always hated the fact that me and Sir Broodsalot don't get on. Anyway if you're both alright with that plan, all we need to do is work out a place for everyone to gather. We can't exactly do it here, even if was in perfect shape Angel would be turned into a crispy critter with the amount of windows this place has."

Piper noticed the looks she was getting from her sisters and sighed as she nodded her head slightly. "I guess the best place will be P3, I can close it for a couple of nights without losing too much revenue, but beyond that…"

"Don't worry," Xander said knowing how important the club was to her, "if we haven't sorted it out by then there'll be nothing to sort. I'll contact Angel so can one of you contact the others?"

"Why can't you?" Prue asked.

"You have to ask?" he responded.

They all know he didn't want to speak to them, but Leo had an idea. "What if you rang Joyce? I'm sure she'd like to speak to you."

Xander thought about saying no, until he received another 'slap' from Prue. "Okay, okay, I'll do it," he said while rubbing his head.

He turned to go use the phone when Paige stopped him by placing her hand on his forearm. She had kept quiet while they were planning what to do, mainly because she had no idea what to say, but she did know that things were going to get hectic later, so she wanted to tell the others who she really was before then.

"Xander?"

He turned to look at her. "Yeah?"

She nodded her head in the direction of her sisters and he quickly cottoned on to what she wanted.

"Oh, yeah." He turned so he was facing the sisters again. "Ladies, we need to have a chat before we do anything else."

"Good news or bad?" was Phoebe's immediate reply.

"Definitely good news," he said assuringly, "it'll be a little unexpected for you is all."

"Well don't keep us in suspense," Piper said, hating it when things like this were dragged out.

Xander turned his attention to Paige, who seemed to want him to be spokesperson again so he started thinking of the best way top approach this.

"Do you know about the relationship between your mother and her Whitelighter Sam?" he asked the sisters.

"Yeah," Prue answered, "it caused a little trouble between Leo and dad; he doesn't like Whitelighters much considering everything and when he found out Leo was one he didn't take it very well to begin with. We met Sam a couple of months ago when we had to deal with the demon that killed our mother."

"You did?" Paige asked, excited that she might get to see her biological father.

"Yeah, he'd had his wings clipped and had been living at the lake where she died."

"Had?" Paige asked not liking the connotations.

"Yeah, he helped us defeat the demon by allowing it to inhabit his body while we electrocuted it. We killed it, but it also killed Sam in the process."

"Oh."

Paige's hopes were dashed at that moment and her shoulders slumped slightly. Xander noticed and pulls her into a hug, knowing that hearing that your father was dead like that couldn't be easy.

Piper watched the exchange between the two with a curious expression. "Guys what's going on?"

"The reason I was asking about your mother and Sam is that during their time together, they had a child, a baby daughter."

No one could say that the Halliwell sisters were dumb; they could all tell from the way he was talking and the way he would look over to Paige fleetingly what he was getting at. They all looked at one another, using the silent communication that only the closest of relationships could use, before Prue asked the question they all wanted the answer to. "What are you saying?"

"That child was Paige."

"What!" All three sisters screamed at the top of their lungs. They may have thought it, but to have their thoughts confirmed was a completely different thing entirely.

"I told you this would be unexpected," was Xander's helpful reply.

"Why have we never heard about this before?"

Xander did something they didn't expect, he shrugged. "The Elders either didn't know or kept her a secret; your mother and Sam put her up for adoption to keep her safe, as there had never been a child born of a witch and a Whitelighter before. I know you don't want to hear this, but Paige would have been a sought after commodity in the demon world, her blood alone would have been able to enhance a myriad of spells and rituals."

"You never told me that!" Paige said to him, a shiver going down her spine at the thought.

"Gee, I wonder why?" he said sarcastically.

Anything Paige was going to say in response left her head when her sisters all stepped closer to her. Xander took a couple of steps back, knowing that this was a momentous occasion for all four of them.

Phoebe took a step closer to Paige than the other two, looking at Paige as though she were searching for something. "I thought that there was something familiar with you, you look a bit like Grams when she was younger."

"I do?" Paige asked, pleased that there was a family resemblance.

The other sisters' eyes widened in realisation that Phoebe was correct, Piper voicing her corroboration first.

"Yeah, now Phoebe's mentioned it you do. We have loads of photo albums that you can look at if you'd like?"

Paige started nodding her head vigorously, making Xander wonder whether it would fall off. "I'd love to."

Prue came over and pulled her into a hug. "Welcome to the family Paige. You know we should have worked it out sooner, given that your name begins with a P."

"Does this mean you'll be changing the name of the club to P4?" Xander asked Piper.

"It's a definite possibility," she responded, seriously considering it. She suddenly turns to Xander with a curious look. "As she's a Halliwell does that mean she's a witch?"

"Yep and a Whitelighter as well, she's got powers a plenty although hers are dormant. Like you they would need to be activated for her to make use of them. I've already talked to her about whether she wants me to activate them or not."

All three Charmed Ones turn to the newest member of the family. "Well?" Phoebe asked.

"I'm not sure," she replied, still uncertain, "I'd like some more time to think about it."

Before anyone could put their two cents in, Xander stepped in. "Hey, no pressure," he reassured her, repeating what he'd already said, "you have all the time in the world to decide what you want to do. Why don't you four do some sister bonding, you've got a lifetime of memories to catch up on after all, while I ring Joyce and Angel?"

The girls all nod in agreement to that, already making their way upstairs. "Sounds like a plan to me," Prue said while gently leading Paige by the hand, "come on Paige it's time you learned more about your family."

The three men smiled at the women as they moved out of sight.

"So what do you want us to do?" Leo asked Xander.

"Well I'm guessing that we're not gonna see them for a few hours, so someone needs to let the people that are working at P3 that it's closed for a couple days. Then once I've contacted the others we'll head there and clear some space so you don't orb or shimmer anyone through a table or chair."

"You know that can't happen," he informed his friend.

"You're bringing people into what you keep telling me is not their war," Xander replied, making air quotes whilst rolling his eyes when he said 'their war', "without the consent of the elders or the PTB. Malcolm might have started it by working with Spike, but I've always noticed that the bad guys seem to get a bit more leniency when it comes to breaking the rules. Add Glory to the mix, as we all know we haven't seen the last of her, and you can forgive me if I want to be a little extra cautious."

"Isn't that a little fatalistic?" Leo asked.

"Not when it's true," he replied.

"Point taken. I'll sort out the staff, Cole can begin clearing P3 and you go contact everyone and let them know when we're arriving. I've just realised we still haven't worked that out yet."

"Seven sound okay with you two?"

Leo and Cole look at each other and shrugged. "Yeah, it gives us a few hours to get everything ready."

Xander nodded in agreement and went to the phone, deciding to call Angel first as he guessed that he might be on the phone a while with Joyce.

**Summers Residence,  
Sunnydale,  
California.**

Joyce was in the kitchen washing the dishes that had been lying around the last couple of days, as she hadn't really been in the mood to do much of anything around the house since Buffy's abduction. Now that she knew where she was, and that Xander and the others would rescue her, she was in better spirits.

When she heard the phone start ringing, she called out for Dawn to get it, which she did.

"Hello?" she greeted politely.

"Hi Dawn Patrol," Xander replied with a warmth in his voice he thought would never come back.

"Xander!" she squealed in delight, happy to hear from him.

"Good set of lungs you got there Dawnmeister, how you doing?" he asked.

"Better now," she replied in a happy tone that brought a smile to his face.

"Aw shucks, you're making me blush. I hope you're not tiring your mom out, I know she's back to her normal loveliness now, but you've both been through a lot the last couple of days."

She would normally roll her eyes to a comment like that but she knew that it was true. "Don't worry Xander I've been the model daughter," she said in her most innocent voice. Of course Xander didn't buy it for a second as he was the one to teach her that voice in the… The realisation that he never did any of that stuff with her hits him and he momentarily couldn't speak. "Xander, you still there?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah, sorry I zoned out there for a second." He decided there and then that those memories he had of her, no matter how he received them, were real and would never allow himself to think differently again. It didn't matter how she got here, she was his Dawnie and that's all that mattered. "You better have been, or else I shall have to think of a suitable punishment when I see you."

"You're coming back?" she asked in a hopeful tone. Ever since her talk with Buffy she had been worried that she might never see him again.

"No, you're coming here," he replied, knowing what the response would be.

"Cool! I've always wanted to see the Golden Gate Bridge!"

"I'm sure we can arrange it Dawnie," he said with a smile, "we have a couple of things to do first, but there'll be plenty of time for sightseeing after. She's going to be fine you know."

"I know, because she has her White Knight looking after her."

"What did you say?" he asked in shock, having only been called that once before.

"That's what you are. You've always been there to charge in and rescue her when she got her stupid ass in trouble."

Xander silently sighed in relief, glad that she didn't say it for any other reason. "Dawn, what have I told you about that kind of language?" he asked.

"Buffy told me about being the Key."

"She did?" Xander said surprised by the change of subject, forgetting all about Dawn's more colourful language.

"Yeah, I think she realised that she should have told us before. I know she didn't tell you and that you're angry with everyone about it."

"Not everyone Dawn, you and your mom had nothing to do with it. I know you have a lot to tell me Dawnie, but I need to speak with your mother first okay?"

"Okay," she said disappointedly. Dawn put her hand over the receiver and called for her mom, who appeared a couple of seconds later drying her hands on a tea towel.

Exchanging the towel for the receiver, she indicated for Dawn to go finish washing the dishes, which she pouted about but complied with nonetheless.

"Hello Xander, it's lovely to hear from you," she said in a voice he could tell was genuinely free of pain.

He had never said anything, but he could always tell when she was trying to hide how much pain she was in. She felt she had to hide it from the rest of them and he played along, as it made her feel better to know they weren't always worried for her.

Of course that was because he was hiding how much he was always worried for her, but that was okay as, she played along too.

"It's great to hear your voice too Mrs. Summers," he replied with complete sincerity.

"If I have to tell you one more time to call me Joyce, so help me I'll…" her rant was cut off before it began by Xander's laughter.

"I'm just kidding around Joyce. How are you feeling?" he asked seriously.

Joyce was touched by how much he cared about her.

"Excellent thanks to you."

She could almost feel his embarrassment, knowing he never felt comfortable when praised. She'd tried to help him with that by praising him whenever possible, but some traits never go away.

"I didn't do anything, that was all Leo," he said trying to move the credit away from him.

"We both know that if you hadn't been worried about what caused my tumour and asked him to check into it I'd still be in hospital," she said in a tone that brook no argument. "I don't know how I can ever repay you."

"Knowing you're well is all I need Joyce," Xander paused for a moment before taking Prue's advice, "I'm sure you've already realised this, but you've been more of a mother to me than my own ever was and I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to you."

"I feel the same about you Xander," Joyce told him sincerely, her eyes moistening slightly at his confession. "I'm glad that you called," she said changing the subject, needing to see him before continuing that particular discussion, "Buffy told us about Dawn and about her keeping it from you."

"Dawn told me. I know you mean well Joyce," he said tentatively, mindful that she was Buffy's mom, "but I would really like it if we could not talk about your eldest daughter at the moment. I don't want any harm to come to her, but apart from that I'd really rather have nothing to do with her, now or in the foreseeable future."

"Xander, I understand why you feel that way, and I'm not going to try and defend what they did as they were wrong to do it, but making decisions about your future when everything is still raw isn't wise."

"I take it you mean my transferring out here and leaving Sunnydale?" he asked, guessing that Buffy must have mentioned it.

"Yes."

"Do you honestly blame me for wanting a new start, given everything?" he asked, his emotions starting to surface. "At this moment as far as I'm concerned there are only two reasons to stay in Sunnydale and I've spoken to both of them in the last few minutes. My friends have proven once again they don't trust me, my girlfriend is dead and don't even get me started on my parents."

Joyce's voice hitched slightly at the mention of his parents, knowing that he needs to know what's happened to them. "Xander, there's something I need to tell you."

"What?" he asked recognising the tone to mean that it wasn't good news.

"I don't know how to say this, but I'm afraid that your parents are dead."

There's silence on the phone for a moment before she heard a thump and a different voice on the other end of the line.

"Hello Joyce?"

"Leo is that you? What's happened to Xander, is he alright?" she asked frantically, worried for her surrogate son.

"He's collapsed Joyce, what's happened?"

She gasped into the phone, her worry increasing. "I just gave him some bad news. The same night he took Buffy, Spike also killed Xander's parents."

"Oh my god, hasn't he suffered enough?" Leo asked rhetorically.

Over the last week Xander had been slowly losing everything that tied him to the real world. Leo knew from experience that once someone had lost everything that they fight for, they almost begin to welcome death. They may not take their own life, but they will take greater and greater risks until they die. He silently vowed to ensure that Xander didn't end up like that.

A thought suddenly entered his head. "Were they turned?" he asked.

"We're not sure," Joyce replied, "so Rupert had them cremated to be on the safe side, the last thing Xander needs is to have vampire versions of his parents running amok."

"I can't argue with you there," he replied, shuddering at the thought of what that would do to Xander's already frayed psyche. "I'm going to have to hang up now Joyce; the girls heard the commotion and are taking care of Xander at the moment, but I want to see if there's anything I can do. Just so you know, he called to let you know that Cole was coming to collect you all at seven this evening, I'm guessing at the shop Giles owns."

"Is it possible for him to come here to my house now and collect the others later?" she asked, not wanting to wait that long. "I feel responsible and want to help however I can."

"I'm sure he'll manage under the circumstances," Leo replied, "if anyone will be able to get through to Xander it's you. He cares for you a great deal you know."

"The feeling is more than mutual. The address is 1630 Revello Drive, it might be wise if he arrives outside and knocks on the door as Willow and Giles have placed wards on the house and they might react to him," she informed him.

"Don't worry I'll let him know."

"I'll let you go now Leo, I'll see you soon."

"Bye Joyce."

She waited for Leo to put the phone down before doing so herself. As she turned round she saw Dawn standing in the kitchen doorway with a worried look on her face.

"Is Xander okay?" she asked.

"He will be honey," Joyce told her softly, "he's just had a lot of bad things happen to him in a short space of time and it's taken its toll on him. A friend of Xander's is going to be here soon to take us to him, so we better get ourselves ready. Go upstairs and pack some clothes, we don't now how long we're going to be there so pack several changes of clothes."

"What about the others?" she asked, more out of curiosity than because she gave a damn. It would be a long time until she felt the same about them given everything.

"At the moment my two priorities are Buffy and Xander. I'll call them quickly so they know when to be ready, after that it's up to them."

"Okay, I'll start packing." Dawn then raced upstairs to her room.

Joyce already had several outfits packed for when she was in hospital, so she used her time to phone Giles.

"Hello Magic Box, Rupert Giles speaking."

"Rupert, it's Joyce."

"Is anything wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"I just got a call from Xander, he said that Cole will be at the shop tonight at seven."

"We'll be ready. What time should I expect you?"

"Dawn and I will already be there, Cole is coming for us in a few minutes."

"Might I ask why?" he enquired, curious as to why they were going earlier.

"I told Xander about his parents and he hasn't taken it well, so I've asked for them to collect us now so I can help him."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"I think you've done enough for the moment Rupert," she replied in a clipped tone. "We shall see you later." She put the phone down before he had a chance to respond.

She's tried to keep her anger she felt towards the man in check, knowing that any argument she had with him at the moment would be counter productive, but even she had a limit. She knew that it wasn't all Giles' fault, but his and Buffy's treatment of Xander had most certainly contributed to his current mental state.

While Xander may not be the most forthcoming person when it came to his emotions, his negative ones at any rate, he like anyone else needed to have the love and support of his friends, something he must feel he no longer had.

He might have Leo and the others, but they'd only known him a few days. He needed people who have known him years, friends that could understand the subtle changes in his mood that could easily be overlooked by those less used to them.

She hoped that she'd be able to help bring Xander out from whatever state he was in right now, not just for him but for Buffy as well.


	22. Chapter Twenty Two

_**Chapter Twenty-Two**_

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Leo sped his way upstairs to where the four sisters were attending to Xander. When he got there he saw that nothing had changed; Xander was still in a catatonic like state, staring blankly ahead. The only proof that he was alive was the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. One thing Leo wasn't looking forward to was explaining why he's in such a state, which was the first question Prue asked him.

"What happened Leo?" she enquired.

"He was speaking to Joyce on the phone and she told him that his parents are dead," he replied, stunning the four women.

"What, how?" Piper managed to ask.

"It seems the Source gave Spike two tasks to perform," he responded, the implications clear to everyone.

"Didn't Xander tell us that Spike had a chip in his head that stopped him from harming humans?" Phoebe asked.

"Yes he did," Leo agreed, "but I can't see a computer chip being a problem for the Source."

"It just doesn't seem right," Prue said as she shivered from the implications, "we've dealt with evil before but they've never been this malicious before."

"Be glad they didn't," Leo noted, knowing that if something were to happen to Piper, he would probably react the same as Xander. "As Xander told us before, we've been extremely lucky over the years; if we were as direct a threat to the Source as Xander is, I have no doubt he would have been as malicious to us as he has been to him."

"Is there anything you can do for him?" Paige asked, her concern for her newest friend, the man that had given her a new family, was visible to all.

"I honestly don't think so," Leo replied. "This is psychological not physical, my healing powers wouldn't have any effect. Even if it were something that I could heal, Xander's unique status would make it next to impossible for me to do so without his consent, something he can't give me at the moment. Of course in a way that might be an advantage."

"What do you mean?" Paige asked.

"He's gone through more in the last few days than most people do in a lifetime, he needs time to work through it before he snaps completely. Retreating into his mind, where no one can interfere with him, gives him the best chance of doing that."

**Xander's Mindscape.**

"Xander?"

Xander had been sitting at the table that had materialised shortly after he arrived when he'd heard her voice. He'd been looking through his mental family album, reminiscing about the few good memories he had of his parents before the booze had completely taken over their lives and turned his childhood into a living hell, and that was before he found out he lived on top of a portal to Hell.

If he were honest with himself he wasn't all that sad that they had died, their treatment of him for most of his life made it extremely difficult to feel saddened by their passing, but with everything else that's been dumped on him recently, it was the proverbial last straw for his mind and it called a time-out from the real world.

He didn't know how long he'd been out, time not being all that relevant where he was, but he had just started to enjoy the peaceful solitude when he had heard the one voice he really could have done without.

"Buffy," he responded.

He knew it was the real her, and not his mental representation of her, for several reasons; the first was that he really didn't want to think about her at the moment, she was after all a major factor in why he was stuck here. While he knew that he had to talk to her at some point, doing it during a breakdown probably wasn't the best time to do it.

The second was that she didn't look the way he always envisioned her in his mind, as while she didn't look unhealthy by any means, she was in his opinion too thin. While stress had to be seen as a major factor, he knew that since leaving home she hadn't been eating as well as she had done when her mother did the cooking.

The clincher of course was that she looked extremely confused; whenever 'Buffy' had been in his mind before, she always knew why she was there.

Ahem.

He watched her as she approached him, stopping a few feet away from the table to give her room to manoeuvre. As he did so he was surprised to find that he didn't feel as angry towards her as he had done the last time he saw her.

"Where are we?" she asked, completely confused how she got here from where she was being held.

She was surprised that she wasn't freaking out; she knew that she should be given everything that had happened to her the last couple of days. If she were being honest with herself, she wasn't actually feeling much of anything, it's was though someone had flicked the off switch on her emotions, allowing her to think clearly for the first time in, well, forever.

"You have the pleasure of being in my mind, again," he answered, referring to the time she was able to read everybody's minds. "At least I think this is my mind, this is how it looked the last time I was here."

"At least you're not constantly thinking about sex this time round," she quipped, saddened when she didn't get a smile from her friend. "Any idea why I'm in your mind?" she asked.

"Haven't a clue, it definitely wasn't via an invitation. Beyond the fact that you're not exactly on list of people I really want to talk to, I like being the only resident in my mind when I have a choice. What's the last thing you remember?" he asked.

"The Source had just left me after doing the 'I'm so much smarter than you, I'm so evil' thing and I started to feel tired," she answered, trying to figure out what brought her here. "The next thing I know I'm standing in a library that would make Giles drool with envy and my Slayer sense was quiet for the first time in days. I was trying to find a way out when I saw someone sitting at a table, I didn't know it was you until I got closer."

"You might as well take a seat," he sighed, not seeing a way to be rid of her. He also didn't want her wondering through his mind unsupervised; he didn't want to wake up a vegetable if she found something she didn't like and laid the Smackdown on his subconscious. "I have a feeling we'll both be here a while."

**Summers Residence,  
Sunnydale,  
California.**

A knock on the door sent Dawn rushing to open it. She hoped that it was going to be that guy Cole that took Xander away days ago, as she wanted to get to him as soon as possible. The problem was that she'd never actually met him, so she wouldn't be sure if it were Cole or not.

She's somewhat surprised to find that her mom had beaten her to the door; it had been a long time since she'd seen her mother moving so quickly without wincing in pain and it did her heart glad to see it.

Joyce hadn't met Cole before either, and even though it was still daylight outside, she wasn't going to take any chances. Leaving the door on the latch, she opened the door and peered outside. Standing there was a handsome looking man in an expensive suit.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this the Summers residence?" the man asked politely.

"Yes, can I help you?" she asked, still wary.

She remembered Buffy telling her about the salesman that had turned into bugs and didn't want that to happen again.

"My name is Cole Turner, Leo asked me to come collect you. By the way, thanks for warning him about the wards on your house; I would have been able to get through, but I wouldn't have enjoyed the experience."

Joyce released the latch and opened the door fully, gesturing for Cole to come in. He didn't take offence and smiled slightly at her before slipping in through the door.

Dawn came over and Joyce put an arm around her shoulder. "I'm Joyce and this is my youngest daughter Dawn," she said.

"It's nice to meet you both," Cole replied genuinely, "Xander has spoken highly of both of you."

Both of the Summers women's smiles widened at that, Dawn's more so than Joyce's, as she was always happy to hear that Xander thought about her.

"How is he?" Joyce asked concerned for her surrogate son.

"I haven't seen him as I was sorting out a place for us all to meet this evening," he replied, "but Leo assures me he's fine physically, but he has shut down mentally."

"What, like a coma?" Dawn asked worriedly.

Cole can see how worried the young woman was for her friend, so he tried to think of the best way to explain what had happened, which was difficult for someone with little to no experience with tact.

"Something like that Dawn; Xander's had a lot to deal with in a short space of time and this is his minds way of giving itself time to assimilate everything." Knowing that they both wanted to get to Xander as quickly as possible, he decided to cut to the chase, "do you have everything ready?"

They both nodded and went to collect their bags, coming back moments later.

"Okay," Cole began, "now this will feel a little strange and you might get a little queasy when we arrive, but you'll both be perfectly safe."

"Xander trusts you, that's all I need to know," Joyce assured with a nod.

Cole smiled at that, remembering when there was a time when he didn't trust anyone and no one trusted him. Now he had people he would trust with his life and they the same. It was a feeling that he wouldn't give up for anything.

"We better do this in your back yard, I don't want to risk taking you through those wards."

Joyce nodded and indicated for Dawn to escort him out back while she went and locked the front door. She then joined the other two, locking the back door behind her as well. Demons may be the biggest threat in Sunnydale, but that didn't mean that human problems like burglars didn't exist.

Once both women were ready, Cole took their hands and, after taking a calming breath, shimmered them all back to the manor.

**Xander's Mindscape.**

Buffy looked around for a few moments and noticed that there weren't any other chairs, making sitting on one a problem. She could sit on the table, but she wouldn't be able to face Xander without either taking a very unladylike position, or sitting right next to him, something she knows he wouldn't be happy about right now.

"Where exactly?" she asked eventually.

Xander noticed the lack of seating and with a wave of his hand a chair identical to the one he was sitting on appeared in front of the diminutive blonde.

"How did you do that?" she asked in shock as she sat down.

"This is my mind, I can do what I like here," he answered. He then leaned towards her slightly, "you think that's air you're breathing?" he said in an approximation of Morpheus' voice before returning to his photo album.

Buffy smiled at the reference, 'The Matrix' being one of her favourite films that didn't involve Tom Cruise. She took a look around and once again found it disconcerting that the bookshelves went on in all directions far beyond her enhanced visual range.

When it became clear that Xander had no problem with sitting in silence, something that she herself has had more than enough of, she tried to start a conversation.

"There's a helluva lot of books here Xand," she commented.

"Well," he responded without looking up, "I have a lot of information in my noggin right now, I am 'The One Who Sees' after all."

Seeing that he had no intention of elaborating, she tried a different topic, one that she should have asked in the first place now she thought about it.

"Any idea why we're stuck here, that is I'm guessing you're stuck here as much as I am?" she asked.

"Well this is my mind, so I guess I have to be here whether I was stuck or not. You're right though, I am stuck here, at least for the time being. I've had what is commonly known as an emotional breakdown and will probably be here until my mind can cope with the outside world again. As for you I have no idea why you're even here, as I said before I didn't invite you. Be glad there wasn't a doorman or you wouldn't have got in."

"Why have you had a breakdown?" she asked, worried for her friend in spite of his less than welcoming attitude. She couldn't really blame him, as she did deserve it, that and a lot more.

"I just had a phone conversation with your mother..." he's cut off before he could continue by a wide-eyed, worried looking Buffy.

"Is she alright?" she asked frantically, remembering seeing her pass out in front of her before Spike took her.

Despite the situation, Xander smiled softly at her.

"She and Dawn are both fine Buff, Joyce sounded stressed but that's hardly surprising given the fact her eldest daughter's been abducted and she's just been told her youngest daughter's a big ball of energy." He noticed the look on Buffy's face when he mentioned Dawn, "I thought you said you told her about Dawn?"

"I told them that she was chosen to be the Key. Finding out that a goddess is hunting you down to use you as a way to get home was going to be hard enough, I didn't want to tell her that she's only been alive for a few months as well."

"You do know she'll find out eventually?" he asked.

"I know; I just couldn't bring myself to tell her that she wasn't real," she answered.

The room seemed to dim slightly as she was fixed with a look from Xander that she couldn't turn away from.

"She is real Buffy, as real as you or me," he stated firmly, making sure that the point was put across. "She may have not been born in the usual way, but she is alive and you should never think differently. She's your sister in every way that counts. As far as telling her about her origins, you have to be the one to do it. If she or Joyce finds out on their own it'll only make it worse, I'm speaking from personal experience here. Finding out I was the last to know about Dawn, apart from your mom and Dawn herself, was bad enough, finding out the way I did made it a thousand times worse. Don't make the same mistake twice."

"Well I'm not exactly in the position to tell them now am I?" she snapped.

"I know that, but after we've got you back safe and sound I suggest you tell them before Glory comes back to ask more questions. As I was saying before, I was on the phone with Joyce when she told me my parents are dead."

She hadn't wanted to believe Spike when he told her what he did to Xander's parents, but now she had to. She moved her chair closer to him, and took his right hand inside her two smaller ones; Xander tensed slightly but didn't pull away, much to her relief.

"I'm so sorry Xander, I found out yesterday that Spike killed them. He was bragging about it."

"So it was Spike?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah, the Source fiddled with his chip so he could kill them but only them." Seeing this as a way to approach their strained friendship, she tried to apologise. "Xander I…" she didn't go any further as his eyes flashed green for a moment and he snatched his hand away.

"You really don't want to start with me right now, I'm on my last nerve and it's already pretty fried," he said, controlling his newly returned anger as best he could.

"Why did your eyes flash green?" she asked, concerned for her friend and unnerved by how inhuman it had made him look.

Xander's put off from his tirade by the question, forgetting for a moment the changes he'd gone through since she last saw him.

"It's an after affect of having all of my powers activated. It tends to happen when I get angry, you seem to have a natural aptitude for make me feel that way."

"So you're still you right? You haven't been… changed or anything?" she asked, worried that she might have to slay him, even though she wasn't sensing anything different about him. Of course, given that she was inside his mind, she doubted that she would sense anything wrong anyway.

"Everybody changes Buffy, but to answer the question you don't want to ask I'm still me, just with a little extra," he explained.

She believed him, she didn't know why but something inside her simply knew it was the truth. Releasing the breath she didn't know she was holding, she went back to what she wanted to say, using the situation they found themselves in to her advantage.

"I need to tell you how sorry I am, I know now that I should have never kept Dawn's origins from you, Mom or Dawn. At the time I thought I was doing the right thing…"

"Bull," he replied succinctly.

"I did!" she screamed. "Mom had to deal with having cancer and I didn't want to stress her out even more by telling her that her baby daughter didn't even exist six months ago. Dawn was worried sick about Mom, finding out you're really a big green ball of mystical energy wasn't going to help her feel better. The only person that made her forget her worry was you, not even Spi… no one could get through to her like you. I know how much you care about her and I didn't want that to change if you knew the truth."

"Did you treat her differently? Did Giles, Willow, Tara or Spike?" he asked, his anger still present but not as intense as before.

"No," she reluctantly answered.

"Then why the hell did you think I would!" he roared, causing her to shrink in on herself. "I love her like a sister and would never let anything happen to her. As for your Mom, you gotta know that Joyce would love her no matter what, she's one of the most loving people I've ever met."

"Alright!" she shouted in frustration, "I was wrong, I admit that, but you gotta believe me I never did it to hurt you Xand," she implored him.

"Look, I can understand why you wouldn't want your Mom knowing on top of everything else she had to deal with," he admitted, "I don't agree with it but I can understand it. The same goes for Dawn, she deserved to know but I can understand why you'd want to spare her that, I'd hate to have been the one to tell her but I would have done it because she, like Joyce, had a right to know."

"I know that now," Buffy admitted, hindsight being a wonderful thing, "I never should have withheld it from anyone, but at the time I thought it was the best thing."

"It didn't stop you from telling everyone else though did it? This is what hurts the most; not that you withheld it from me, but that you entrusted Dawn's secret to Spike, basically trusting him more than me."

"It wasn't like that!" she said adamantly.

"It was exactly like that; you say you didn't want me to treat her differently, I get that, but you can't have wanted anybody else to treat her differently either, and yet you told them. I know you had to tell Giles; he's your Watcher, you needed his help to find more about Glory. Going by your reason for not telling me he should have been the only one to know but you told Willow, Riley and Spike too."

"You missed out Tara," she noted, wondering why she would try and make things worse by reminding him that even more people knew before he did.

"No I didn't, you don't know Tara well enough to have trusted her with this. Willow would have told her; she can't keep a secret to save her life, especially not from those she cares about. She saw Tara all the time so of course she was going to crack and tell her." Xander paused for a moment, lost in thought. "That does help explain why she has been avoiding me recently; she knew I'd figure out she was hiding something and get it out of her. You told Riley because he's your boyfriend, again, not unexpected. But _Spike_! I have to know, why did you tell him of all people?" he asked.

"I didn't, not really; he overheard a conversation I was having with Giles. If he hadn't he would never have known. Please believe me, I have never trusted Spike more than you."

"I don't believe you," he said, but he was starting to doubt that.

In his mind it had been all so clear; Buffy had told them because she trusted them and didn't tell him because she didn't. Now that he was thinking about it without the overwhelming emotional attachments that normally came with it, he could see why they knew, all except for Spike.

No matter how hard he tried, he hadn't been able to come up with any other reason she would have told Spike and not him other than she trusted the vampire more. He didn't even consider that Spike could have found out on his own. That didn't change the fact that she still withheld it from him, however.

"It's the truth! He confronted me about it and at first I denied it, but he said that he would tell Dawn about it if I didn't tell him everything."

"Why didn't you just stake him?" he asked, thinking that would have been his first choice.

Of course that was always his first choice when it came to _any_ vampire, but especially ones from that particular family; they've cause him more pain than all the other vampires and demons combined.

"Dawn likes him and would have wanted to know why," she explained.

"You could have lied and said he left town, or just said nothing and let her think he just got tired of hanging around the good guys," he pointed out.

"I know I could, but I didn't think of it at the time. If I could go back and change things I would. God, there are so many things I want to go back and do differently, but I can't. I'm not perfect Xander; I make mistakes just like anyone else, I know you can't tell me you've always done or said the right thing. I had a split second decision to make and I made it, in hindsight it was the wrong one but it was the only one I thought I had at the time. If you believe nothing else, please believe that I never did any of this to hurt you. I know that I have, but it wasn't intentional. If nothing else at least tell me you believe that; I can't stand the thought of you believing I'd do any of this to purposely hurt you," she pleaded.

She was crying now, the thought of losing one of her closest friends after everything they'd gone through being just too much to cope with on top of everything else.

Xander was torn between his anger and his natural response to seeing on of 'his girls' crying of holding them and offering comfort.

"I know you didn't do it with the aim of hurting me, but that doesn't change the fact that it did anyway. Strangely I might have been able to deal with this better if you had done it on purpose; at least it would have made things more clean cut as to where I stand with you."

"What do you mean?" she asked confused, trying to hold back more tears.

"If you had kept me out of the loop simply because you didn't want me to know or didn't care, I could have put a line under our friendship and gone on my merry way. The trouble is you never make things that simple; you've hurt me more times than I can count, but you've never done it with malice, anger sometimes but never malice. Admittedly you're not solely to blame; Giles and Willow have to shoulder some of the responsibility. They could have tried to convince you to tell me about Dawn."

"How do you know they didn't?" she asked.

"Giles wouldn't have said anything because he's your Watcher and it's his job to support you in your actions, no matter how stupid they are. Even if he had, it wouldn't have been more than a passing comment, and he would have immediately capitulated to you once you'd made your decision. Besides him, there aren't many people who have any influence on you; Tara isn't close enough to you to be of any influence, and if she was she's too shy to voice it."

"I wouldn't say that," she said with a slight smile, "she had a go at Riley and Spike when they were saying that you didn't contribute to the group."

"She did?" he asked shocked, to which Buffy nodded. "I didn't know she had it in her, she must have a limit to her tolerance after all. Getting back on track, Riley showed what he truly thought of me a few days ago so I know he wouldn't have said anything, and if he did it would be to ensure you kept me in the dark. With Joyce as much out of the loop as me, and Anya obviously also in the dark as my girlfriend, she was in the dark about this right?" he suddenly asked.

"She had no idea," Buffy confirmed.

Xander sighed slightly in relief. He didn't know if he could take the thought of Anya keeping that a secret from him on top of the whole 'The One Who Sees' thing. Not that it made much difference now, but it did make him feel slightly better.

"Right. Getting back to my point, the only option left was Willow, and I can't remember one occasion where she's disagreed with something you've done without someone getting the ball rolling first."

"She's disagreed with me before," she argued.

"Oh, I'm not saying she's never disagreed with you, I'm saying she's never been the first to disagree."

"I don't understand."

"When you first arrived in Sunnydale," Xander began to explain, "you chose her over Cordelia; no girl had ever chosen her over popularity before and she never expected one to. You quickly became her best friend and she didn't want to jeopardise that by being the first to point out when you're wrong; she was afraid that you wouldn't want to be friends anymore if she did. I could understand it in the beginning; she was still the shy and insecure girl I'd known since kindergarten and was terrified you'd hate her for going against you. The trouble is even after she started to be surer of herself; she was still reluctant to say anything to you unless someone else, meaning me, did first. After she found out I hadn't told you about the curse, she would side with you whenever I disagreed with something, whether she thought you were right or not."

"That's a bit harsh don't you think?" she asked.

"Maybe," he admitted, "but it doesn't make it any less true. She, like you, doesn't do it to hurt me; it's just the way she is. Again, it doesn't make it hurt any less."

"Are we going to be okay?" she asked, her hope that he'd say yes evident in her eyes.

"Not until we've cleared the air on everything Buffy; there's still the small matter about you still not letting me know about Dawn and Glory after we had our asses handed to us by the bitch herself."

"Xander…"

"If Leo hadn't thought fast and orbed her away," he said cutting her off, "you'd all be dead and I'd've been tortured for information I didn't even have, not that I would've told her anything if I had known. The fact remains that if I didn't need to know before, I damn well deserved to know then, but you still withheld it from me. When were you finally going to tell me, as part of my eulogy?!"

"I know I should have told you, I wanted to tell you, it's just that…" she trailed off, not knowing how to put into words how she felt.

"Come on," he demanded, "I deserve to know."

"I got so used to saying that it was better you didn't know that I got stuck on a loop; I knew I should have told you then, if I'm honest with myself I knew I should have told you before we even knew Cole existed, but it got so I couldn't bring myself to do it."

"Why not!" he shouted.

"Because I knew you'd react the way you did and I'd lose you!" she answered, the tears that had stopped returning in earnest.

"What?" he asked shocked.

"I knew that you'd hate me for keeping it from you, especially when you found out Spike knew and you didn't, and I wanted to savour every moment I had left with you. That was partly why I came with you to San Francisco; I had a feeling I'd never see you again if I didn't. I didn't want to lose you so I said nothing, even though I knew you'd find out eventually and I'd lose you anyway."

"I don't know what to say," he said, unable to believe what he'd heard.

"You think I do? This entire mess is my fault; if I had just told you from the start none of this would have happened. I've done it once again; I've forced you away like every other man in my life."

"What are you talking about?" he asked confused by the turn she'd made in the conversation.

"I drove my dad away because I burned down the gym in LA, Angel left because I could turn him into a vicious killer, even Riley's gone because I wasn't paying him enough attention."

She was once again crying uncontrollably and this time Xander didn't resist the urge to go over to her. The moment she felt his arms around her she buried her head into his shoulder, her body almost completely off her chair. The only thing keeping her from falling was Xander, once again offering her support even when she didn't deserve it.

"This is going to sound strange after everything I've said," he said, "but you're not to blame for everything that ever gone wrong in your life."

"Yes I am, I'm a self-centred, inconsiderate bitch," she stated.

"You're not Mother Teresa," he said with a smile, "but then not many people are. From what your mom told me, your dad's departure was as much to do with his secretary's inability to keep her legs closed as it was your problems at Hemery."

"She's talked to you about that?" she asked shocked.

"Yeah. You had no choice but to burn down the gym, it was full of vampires. With your Watcher dead, you had no one in authority to corroborate what happened, or help with a cover story, so it wasn't your fault no one believed you when you told the truth. The fact that you were put in the nut house for a while probably didn't help the situation, but neither did him committing adultery. That's what caused them to split up; it had nothing to do with you."

"You believe that?" she asked in a small voice.

"Absolutely and so does Joyce. If your father ever tries to say different he's not worthy of your love as a daughter."

"It is my fault that Angel left," she said, convinced of her wrongdoing.

"Angel's leaving was nothing to do with you forcing him to leave, I distinctly remember you begging him to stay in fact. You two simply couldn't work as a couple; we still don't know what constitutes a 'perfect' moment of happiness to break his curse, although if it's just sex then to be honest that makes Angel one of the shallowest people I've had the misfortune to know."

"Huh?"

"It wasn't seeing the smile you reserve just for him, it wasn't from hearing you say that you loved him, it wasn't one of the thousand things that should have made his shrivelled heart beat again, he lost his soul when he had sex with you. Back then my moment would have been if you had agreed to go to the Spring Fling with me, or when I managed to bring you back to life in the Master's cave. Of course if he thought with the head on his shoulders instead of the one in his pants there wouldn't have been a problem in the first place."

"Mom mentioned your thoughts on that the night I was taken," she commented, realising that her mother was right when she said how strongly Xander felt about what happened between her and Angel.

"In that case I won't bother to repeat them. Again." He then remembered something she said. "What about Riley?"

"Huh?"

"You said he's left," he reminded her.

"Yeah, he's re-enlisting, or something like that."

"Did he say why?" he asked.

"I wasn't making him a priority."

Hearing that made Xander angry. "He knew about Dawn, he knew about your mother, so if he was expecting you to put him above them he's a prick and isn't worth worrying about. He was a TA for a college Psych class for Christ's sake, he should have some understanding for what you were going through, but instead he only thought about his own needs. If you haven't guessed yet, I'm saying that it isn't your fault he left either."

"It's my fault that you're leaving me."

"Listen, I know what I said when I first found out, but I'm not going anywhere, at least not yet. I'm still extremely pissed with you, Giles and Willow right now, more than I ever thought possible to be honest, but your mom said something to me before I went sparko on everyone and that was I shouldn't let my emotions cloud my judgement. I'm not making a decision one way or the other until everything's settled down."

"You promise?" she asked hopefully.

"Don't get your hopes up," he warned her, "I can't see too many reasons why I should stay in Sunnydale right now, but that isn't just to do with you. Not only have my girlfriend parents been killed in the past week, I have responsibilities here in San Francisco that I can't just turn my back on. There are a lot of things I have to take into account and to make such a life changing decision out of anger isn't going to help."

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Cole, Joyce and Dawn have arrived at the manor and both Joyce and Dawn realised that Cole wasn't joking when he said they'd feel queasy. Dawn, looking green around the gills, turned to Cole.

"Where's the bathroom?" she asked a little uneasily.

"Upstairs, second door on the right."

"Thanks!" she said as she was already running up the stairs.

"How are you feeling Joyce?" Cole asked.

"Not as bad as Dawn it seems, but that isn't something I'd want to do too often."

"You do get used to it after a while."

"I'll take your word for it." she said wryly. It's only now that she noticed the less than pristine condition of the house, "what happened here, it looks like someone had fun with a wrecking ball."

"Energy ball yes, wrecking ball no. The Source sent a few assassins after Xander a couple of days ago. They weren't into precision and managed to hit practically everything except him. Not that they could have hurt him if they had, one of the perks of the job."

"Speaking of Xander, where is he?" she asked, eager to check on him herself. She knew that there wasn't a lot she could do for him, but she wanted to be here anyway.

"He's upstairs Joyce," Leo said as he came down the stairs, "nice to see you out of the hospital, even if it is under less than pleasant circumstances."

"Nice to see you too Leo, and thanks again for healing me."

"Think nothing of it."

"You're as bad as Xander; when someone thanks him he tries to dismiss it just as you did."

"I don't do it for the thanks," he told her.

"That's why you deserve to be thanked," she replied sagely as only a woman could.

"I'm not going to win this one am I?" he asked ruefully.

"You should always listen to your elders."

"In Leo's case he has no choice," Cole said with a grin.

Leo ignored him, "I think you'll find I have a few years on you Joyce, I did serve in the war."

"As did my ex husband," Joyce said.

"I served in the Second World War Joyce," he informed her gently, realising that she hadn't actually know how old he was.

"Oh. I suppose I should be used to meeting people who don't look their age, but it always manages to shock me."

"I suppose now isn't the right time to tell you I'm older than Leo is it?" Cole said rhetorically.

Leo just rolled his eyes, although he was secretly happy that Cole was interacting more with people. The more that he did so, the more his human half came out; that's one of the reasons the Source always warned him about getting too close to his victims.

"Come one Joyce, I'll take you to Xander." He placed his hand on her shoulder and before she could protest, orbed her to the bedroom.

"Oh! You could have given me some warning Leo!" she said, even if she did enjoy it.

She'd always been a fan of rollercoasters and it gave her the same sensation, different to the sensation she had when Cole brought them here.

"Sorry," Leo said sheepishly, "it's just that I'm so used to doing that with the others I forget not everyone is as used to it as we are."

Dawn was already in the room holding Xander's hand whilst getting to know his new friends when they had orbed in, "That's not fair, both you and Buffy have done the orbing thing and I haven't," she said, pouting a little for effect.

"I tell you what Dawn, if your mom says it's okay we can orb somewhere a little later okay?" Leo said, which brought a wide smile to the young girls face.

"Cool! Can we go to the Golden Gate Bridge?" she asked excitedly.

"Sure, but only if your mom agrees," he reiterated.

Dawn immediately put on her best puppy dog expression, a look Xander taught her, and directed it at Joyce. "Can I mom, please!"

"I don't see why not." Joyce replied, thankful to Leo for suggesting it.

She knew how Dawn felt for Xander and seeing him like this wasn't going to easy for her. She'd always seen him as invincible, sometimes down but never out. Seeing him just lying there so helpless would shatter that illusion and right now she needed to hold onto something to give her hope that everything would turn out right in the end.

Piper sent Leo a pointed look and after looking puzzled for a couple of moments, he got the hint and started making introductions. "Where are my manners; Joyce, I'd like you to meet Piper my fiancée and her sisters Prue, Phoebe and Paige. Ladies, this is Joyce and you've already met her daughter Dawn."

Greetings were sent around the room, Paige beaming wildly at Leo for the way he introduced her, still trying to get used to having three sisters.


	23. Chapter Twenty Three

_**Chapter Twenty-Three**_

**Golden Gate Bridge,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Dawn had seen many pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge, all depicting it's engineering marvel in glorious Technicolor, but even the most sophisticated camera in the world couldn't compare to seeing it with her own two eyes.

Leo had orbed them to the bay, allowing her to see the bridge in its entirety, before orbing them to the top of the bridge itself, allowing her to see it in a way that few people had. Having the foresight to bring a warm jacket and some snacks, Leo and Dawn sat at the top of the bridge for over an hour, until the sun began to touch the skyline.

"Come on Dawn," Leo said gently, "we better get you back to your mom."

"Can't we stay a little longer?" she pleaded, using the puppy dog look that Xander had taught her the first time he baby-sat for her mom.

Leo, having no defence against such a potent weapon, quickly acquiesced.

"Okay, we'll stay a little longer, but then we'll have to go back. The last thing we want is to have your mom worrying about where you are."

Hiding a smile of triumph at once again getting her way, Dawn quickly nodded her head in agreement. "Alright."

They sat there for a few more minutes, watching the sun slowly disappear behind the high-rise buildings, when they were distracted by the sight and sound of two more people orbing onto the bridge. Leo instantly recognised them as two of the Seven, the Elder high council.

Leo bowed slightly in respect. "Elders, what brings you to the mortal plane?" he asked.

"Good evening Leo," the first Elder began, "it has been a long time since I have been on Earth. This bridge was only in the beginnings of its construction."

While Leo smiled on the outside, but internally he was feeling a little confused. Elders rarely left the safety of their realm, unless there were extreme circumstances. For two to leave the realm together, and for them to discuss something other than the reason for their visit, made the hairs on the back of his neck raise.

The second Elder could sense Leo's confusion/concern and decided to explain their presence. "The reason we are here Leo, is to take the Key with us back to our realm for safe keeping. The threat of Glorificus is too great to allow the Key to remain on Earth."

"Um, excuse me, uh, Elders," Dawn interrupted timidly, finding herself intimidated by their aura even as her adolescent mind galled at their talking about her as though she wasn't there, "but don't you think I should get a say in that? I mean, I am the Key after all."

"Yes child, you are the Key," she agreed, "but we have decided that it is simply too dangerous for you to remain here. If Glorificus is successful in finding you, not only this world but this entire dimension will be at risk of destruction." The second Elder held out her hand to Dawn. "Come with us, it is the only logical choice."

Dawn was looking at the two robed annoyances and was weighing up her options; she could either go with two extremely dull and obtuse specimens, or stay her with her friends and family who love and protect her, even when she doesn't want them to.

"I'm young and American, logic doesn't mean jack to me. I'm staying here," she told them firmly, donning her sister's most intimidating Slayer posture.

The two Elders look at each other for a moment, silently communicating with one another, before returning their attention to Leo and Dawn. "We are sorry that you have chosen to be so uncooperative, we wished to do this amicably."

Before Leo has a chance to do anything, the two Elders froze him in place and grabbed Dawn, orbing themselves and her back to the Elders realm. Once they had gone, Leo was unfrozen and attempted to follow them, but found that his ability to orb to the Elders realm had been removed from him.

Knowing that there was nothing more he could do alone, he orbed back to the manor.

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Even though they were taking Xander's advice and moving to an apartment that Cole had managed to find for them, Piper still felt the need to try and make the kitchen look less like a bombsite and more like a, well, kitchen. She was working hard, but had yet to make much progress, and she was beginning to lose heart over the whole thing.

"Piper, do you need a hand?" a voice asked from behind her.

Joyce had left Xander under the watchful eyes of Prue and Paige, who were still getting used to the fact they were half-sisters. While she was still worried for his well being, Joyce knew that he was in capable hands so she decided to make herself useful elsewhere.

Piper turned and gave Joyce a rueful smile. "I need about a thousand by the looks of it Joyce."

"I'm afraid I have only two, but they're both at your service."

"Thank you," she told Joyce gratefully. "You can start anywhere, I'm not exactly going by any set pattern."

Joyce nodded once and set to work, thankful that she had something to keep her mind off of everything that was going on. She was certain that she'd find herself in a similar state to Xander if she allowed herself enough time to ponder the danger both her daughters and surrogate son were in, so losing herself in a task like cleaning was the perfect solution in her mind.

The two women worked in comfortable silence for the next half an hour, both content to work without the need to make idle conversation. They had talked before, finding that they had similar tastes in music and food, actually exchanging recipes at one point.

While Piper wasn't the eldest of the sisters, her natural talents in the culinary department meant that she often assumed the role of mother in the manor. Prue was still the bossiest of the three, and the most worrisome, but Piper was the one that usually ensured that they were fed properly and liked to keep them as close to a regular schedule as possible, which given their day and night jobs wasn't the easiest task to perform.

The kitchen was actually starting to look like one again when Leo appeared in the familiar sparkle of lights. When Joyce noticed that he had arrived alone, she immediately went on high alert.

"Where's Dawn?" she asked immediately.

Leo knew that there was no easy way to tell her, so he went with simple honesty. "I'm sorry Joyce, two Elders appeared and took her."

"You didn't try to stop them?" she asked angrily, stalking over to Leo with a glint in her eye.

Leo's head hung low, his guilt over being unable to prevent Dawn from being taken weighing heavily on him.

Piper stepped in, knowing that things were going to go downhill fast if she didn't. "Joyce, Leo wouldn't have just let them take Dawn, but he doesn't have the power to fight an Elder, let alone two."

Leo managed to look up and meet Joyce's fierce gaze. "She's right, the moment I made a move to stop them they froze me in place. By the time it wore off, they had already gone and had taken Dawn with them. I swear on my honour that there was nothing I could do."

"Can't you go up there and get her back?" she asked, trying as hard as she could not to lose it completely. She needed to stay strong until her babies were in her arms again, and then she could lose control.

"Not anymore," he said regretfully, "they've restricted orbing ability to Earth. They're not going to hurt her Joyce; they might not be the most feeling group, but it is against everything they believe to bring harm to an innocent, and that is exactly what Dawn is."

"I know you're trying to make me feel better Leo, but so far my oldest daughter is being held captive by the bad guys, my youngest is being held captive by the good guys and the man I consider my son in all but blood is in a coma. There isn't a lot you can do or say that could make me feel better about this."

"He may not," a voice chimed in, "but I might."

They all turned to the source of the new voice, finding Cole and Phoebe standing in the doorway, small smiles on their faces despite the situation.

**Xander's Mindscape.**

After their clearing the air, Xander and Buffy began talking with each other, which proved difficult to begin with given that she had to write everything down, but they managed.

Xander had realised that her being in his mind might be a ploy by the Source to find out what he was planning. He couldn't infiltrate his mind directly, but the Source could infiltrate Buffy's. After casting a simple spell to prevent anyone from reading her mind, he found that he couldn't either, which manifested itself by being unable to hear Buffy speak. It took them a while to figure out how to get around the snag in his plan, which took longer due to their inability to communicate freely, they eventually decided on using a pad and pencil, conjured up by Xander, and once they found that it worked they carried on with their talk.

Buffy guiltily remembered that this was probably the first time that they had actually conversed with one another in quite some time. Oh, they had talked many times the last few years, but rarely with each other. It was either Buffy talking to Xander about her relationship problems, or Buffy talking to Xander about her wanting a normal life or… basically she used Xander as a sounding board and he basically never told her much of anything, generally because she didn't let him get a word in edgewise.

As she'd told her mom, Xander had always been there when she needed a shoulder to cry on, or simply be a sounding board to vent her problems, but she had been sorely lacking when it came to reciprocating. It wasn't all her fault, as Xander always had been a reserved person when it came to his own emotions, but she had never made much of an effort to break through the walls he'd surrounded himself with, or to find out why he'd erected those walls in the first place.

With that in mind she made sure that this talk was more of a two way street. She still talked about her relationship problems and her wanting a normal life, but she also got him talking about his life as well. He talked about his work, how he found he enjoyed construction work especially carpentry, and how his bosses had given him the support and encouragement he needed to progress up the ladder far faster than anyone expected. He joked that it was because the turn over rate for employees was pretty high in Sunnydale, but she knew that they wouldn't give him the responsibilities that he had if he weren't up to the task.

While it was hard for him to do, Xander also talked about his relationship with Anya; how they went from just being sex buddies to something deeper, and how under her lack of tact and capitalistic obsession there had been a warm and gentle person learning to be a part of humanity again.

He had spoken about how devastated he was when he found out she had stayed with him more to keep him from the Source than because of him, how angry he was that she betrayed him, and how sad he was that she had been murdered because of it. Buffy had been more than a little shocked when he told her he couldn't blame Anya for what she did, as she had followed her heart and proved just how human she had become.

During their talk Buffy began to realise that they had more in common than she thought, and that wasn't because he now had his own Chosen One deal to contend with. They liked the same types of music, apart from his affinity with Country or 'the music of pain' as he preferred to call it. She already knew that their movies preferences matched, and decided that once everything had been dealt with that they should reprise their Friday movie night with Willow.

What shocked her the most was how little Xander had really changed over the years; yes he had gotten more mature thanks to his job, and he was more aware of when to and when not to make jokes, but the twenty year old Xander she was talking to now was basically the same as the sixteen year old Xander she had met in high school.

Xander was finding that their talk was further healing the wounds that had been made by Buffy over the years. He knew that she wasn't aware of just how hurt he had been by some of her actions, but they had hurt nonetheless. He still wasn't sure what he was going to do once they had dealt with the Source and Glory, whether he would stay in Sunnydale or leave for pastures new, but he did know that whatever he chose to do, it wouldn't be clouded by anger.

He still needed to clear the air with Willow and the others no matter what he decided to do, as he had kept too much bottled up for too long, and before he could get on with deciding his future he had to make peace with his past.

Just as Buffy was passing over her writing pad so he could see what she'd put, he felt a presence entering his mind and instantly went on the alert.

"Buffy, someone's coming," he told her, passing the pad back.

WHO?

"Your guess is as good as mine," Xander replied as he read the pad she'd turned round.

ADAM SANDLER?

"The way our lives work I wouldn't be surprised if it was."

As the presence got closer, Xander was able to tell that it wasn't malevolent, in fact it felt familiar. As he was trying to work out where he'd felt it before, the answer appeared before him.

"Prue?"

The eldest Halliwell sister and one third of the Charmed Ones was standing before them, smiling widely. When Cole had come to them with the idea that she could use her astral projection ability to enter Xander's mind, they had all thought that it was a long shot. He then reminded them that the way things were going long shots were all they were going to get, they had agreed and Prue had focussed on leaving her body and entering Xander's. When she realised that it had worked she had been thrilled, as it was basically their last hope.

"Hi Xander, Hi Buffy?" she greeted, wondering how and why Buffy was in his mind.

Buffy smiled slightly and waved, feeling a little put out that she didn't have Xander to herself anymore. That wave of jealousy had shocked her, but not as much as it would have a few days ago. Her mom's talk with her and the way she'd reacted when Xander had told her he was leaving had made her realise that maybe she needed to rethink just how she thought of her friend. That was another thing that would have to wait until later, when she was actually in her own body and able to talk freely.

"Yeah, it seems that someone installed a party line into my brain when I wasn't looking. So what brings you to the Xander Zone, apart from the obvious," he asked, waggling his eyebrows.

She smirked at him for a moment before getting to the point. "The Elders have decided in their infinite wisdom to put Dawn into their protective custody until Glory has been dealt with."

Both Prue and Buffy become worried when the 'room' they were in began to darken, making it a far more frightening place to be. They become more worried when they saw that Xander begin to become surrounded by green flames, as though they were emanating from his body.

"Prue, you better leave now," he told her, his voice taking on an echoing quality.

"Why?"

"Because I'm leaving myself in a minute and I don't know if you'll be able to after I'm gone."

WHAT ABOUT ME? Buffy 'asked'.

"Why is Buffy writing instead of talking?"

"Long story," Xander told Prue. He then turned to Buffy. "Honestly Buff I have no idea what will happen when I leave. My best guess is that whatever brought you here in the first place will take you back to your own body once I'm not here. Prue came here of her own free will so she has to leave in the same manner."

ALRIGHT.

Buffy walked round the table and pulled Xander into a hug, one that he willingly returned. He was surprised when she placed a lingering kiss on his cheek, but couldn't say he wasn't pleased.

I'LL SEE YOU SOON. RIP THEM A NEW ONE FOR ME.

Xander didn't have to ask who 'they' were. "That's got a Xander Harris guarantee little lady." He turned back to Prue. "You better get going."

She nodded, not trusting her voice at the moment. Even though she had decided not to pursue her feelings for Xander, she couldn't help but feel jealous by the display she'd just witnessed. She wasn't too sure whether either one of them saw it, but there was a lot of chemistry between Buffy and Xander.

Her eyes locked with Buffy's for a moment and the Slayer's head moved ever so slightly, as though in acknowledgement to her inner musings. She returned the gesture and then began the journey back to her own body, waiting Xander's return to the land of the living.

**The Source's lair,  
Demon Underground.**

Buffy came to and found herself still bound on the floor of the Source's lair, but for the first time since her abduction a genuine smile appeared on her face. While they had a long way to go, her friendship with Xander was on the road to repair, and the chance for more was not outside the realms of possibility. All she had to do was figure out whether she wanted more, and then find out if Xander felt the same.

"Dealing with the Source will be easier," she sighed.

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Everyone was gathered around Xander's bed, waiting for him to wake up. Since Prue had returned from her journey to his mind, Xander had been showing more and more signs of life. Where before he had simply lain there motionless, he was now moving almost constantly, like someone who was having trouble getting to sleep but in reverse.

The only disturbing thing about the situation was the green flame that surrounded him, the same as the one Prue had seen surrounding him in his mind. They were pleased to find that it gave off no heat, as they were worried that he would set the bed on fire, so they had left him where he was.

All of a sudden, he rose off the bed as though his feet were nailed to it, pivoting until he was in a standing position at the foot of the bed. A moment later his eyes opened and they were once again glowing green, but this time they were also ablaze like his body.

"Xander?" Joyce asked tentatively.

She hadn't had as much contact with the supernatural as her daughter, but she knew that when someone wasn't acting human to tread carefully.

Xander turned his head so that he was looking at her and smiled. Instantly Joyce breathed a sigh of relief, as there was no way that something evil could show so much warmth in a smile.

"Hey Mrs. S," he said cheerfully, "good to see you."

"It's good to see you too Xander. I don't suppose you'd consider stepping down off the bed?"

Xander looked down and realised what she meant and quickly complied. As soon as he did so, he found himself being hugged fiercely by Joyce and could feel her tears on his shirt. He comforted her as best he could, whispering in her ear and rubbing her back soothingly. He could only imagine what the last couple of days had been like for her, especially now that the other daughter had been taken from her as well, this time by the supposedly good guys. He looked over his shoulder to the other occupants of the room, who were all smiling widely.

"How long have I been out?" he asked.

"Around ten hours, give or take," Cole replied.

"Seemed longer."

He gently extricated himself from Joyce's embrace and cupped her chin lightly so he could look her in the eye. She still found his green eyes a little unnerving, but she could still see Xander's natural warmth behind them so she wasn't overly concerned.

"I'm going to go and get Dawn in a minute, then we'll start planning on getting Buffy back. I give you my word that they'll both be returned to you safe and sound if it takes my dying breath to do it," he vowed.

Joyce could hear the grim determination in Xander's voice and knew that he wouldn't stop until both her little girls were safe. There weren't many things that she believed in completely, she had gone through too much in her life to not be a little cynical, but she did believe in him.

"Um, Xander?" Leo began, "How are you going to get Dawn back? I'm unable to orb up there and you don't have the ability to get there by yourself."

"You can't, but Paige can."

"I can?" she asked, surprised.

"Not right now you can't, but if you agree to have your powers activated you can, as you're half Whitelighter. You'll be able to orb just as well as Leo, and because you're a born Whitelighter instead of one chosen by the Elders, they have no jurisdiction over you, and therefore cannot prevent you from entering their realm."

"Are you sure?" Paige asked tentatively.

"Positive. They may be the Elders, but they're not the eldest. They only have control over the Whitelighters they choose, and they can only choose from those who are dead. So Paige, you willing to activate your powers?"

Everyone in the room turned to look at the newest member to the Halliwell clan, Joyce unable to hide the hope she felt. Paige had grown up wanting to help others less fortunate than herself, which was the reason she had become a care worker in the first place. These powers would only help her in doing that, and they would keep her safe from the evil that was now aware of her presence. Add to that the fact she liked Dawn and didn't want to see anything happen to her, and there was only one answer she could possibly give.

"Yes."


	24. Chapter Twenty Four

_**Chapter Twenty-Four**_

**Elders Realm.**

Paige and Xander arrived in the Elders realm, just outside the great doorway leading to the Seven's council chamber. As he had told her before, it hadn't taken long for Xander to activate Paige's powers, which all but Joyce could feel were immense. They didn't have time to go through what they all were, as they didn't want to leave Dawn in the hands of the Elders any longer than necessary, so they had concentrated on her orbing ability.

After taking Paige on several orbs throughout the manor so she had a feel for it, Leo instructed Paige on how to orb herself. She found it pretty hard going to begin with, the first time she actually orbed was when Cole had thrown a low-level energy ball at her, but that was instinct as opposed to conscious thought. However, once she knew that she could do it herself, she found it that much easier to master. It was one thing to be told you could do something, it was quite another to actually do it.

Two hours later and she was orbing herself throughout the manor and the city with ease, and Xander had suggested that they try to get a good night's sleep before going up against the Elders.

Everyone had agreed, and did just that, although Xander remembered to call Sunnydale and LA to explain why there was a delay in collecting them. Neither group was happy about the situation, but for different reasons; Giles and the others wanted to come and help in the retrieval of Dawn, and Cordelia was just annoyed that Xander had stood her up, complaining that it reminded her of when they went out.

Morning came and another argument began, this time about who was going to retrieve Dawn. Everyone wanted to come along, but Xander had insisted it would be best if it were just him and Paige. He explained that Cole couldn't go because he was half demon, Leo couldn't because he had been prohibited from doing so, the Charmed Ones were still technically under the Elders jurisdiction, and Joyce had no way of defending herself if it came to it. Paige and himself were the only two who had the ability to protect themselves, even if Paige would only be able to do it out of reflex, and they were not subject to the Elders rule. It had taken Xander a while to convince them, but convince them he did.

"Right, we're here, now what?" Paige asked, still unsure of Xander's plan of retrieving Dawn.

"Simple; I go in, free Dawn, tell the Seven a few home truths, and leave."

"That's it? You don't really believe it will be that simple do you?" she asked incredulously.

His face darkened and a faint flame appeared around him for a moment before disappearing. "For their sake it had better be."

**Hyperion Hotel,  
Los Angeles,  
California.**

Angel and the gang were waiting in the lobby of the hotel for their ride to arrive. While they had been less than pleased with the delay in travel, it had given them time to ensure that they had everything that they thought they would need.

Angel was worried about Buffy, Cordelia was worried about Xander, Wesley was worried about Glory and Gunn was just looking forward to kicking some ass. It would actually be the first time that they had all worked together since dealing with Darla and Drusilla, the ramifications of how everything went down meant that it took time for them to trust each other again.

A shower of sparkling blue lights indicates the arrival of their transport. Angel was glad that Xander had warned him about Leo, as his demon was going haywire being so close to an honest to god angel. Both Wesley and Gunn were in shock at what they saw, but Cordelia wasn't all that impressed by the lightshow. What she was impressed by was the hunk that appeared after the lights had gone.

Walking over to him with an added sway to her hips, she puts on her sexiest smile. "Hi, I'm Cordelia."

Leo was flustered by her obvious come on, not used to being in the presence of someone quite so forward. "H-Hi, I'm Leo."

"Don't make me pour a bucket of water over you Cor," Gun said stepping forward. "Nice to meet you Leo, the names Charles Gunn but everyone calls me Gunn."

"Nice to meet you Gunn," Leo replied, taking his proffered hand.

Gunn steered Cordelia away from Leo as he saw her about to make another pass at the poor bloke, allowing Wesley to make his introduction.

"Wesley Wyndham-Pryce at your service," he said formally, offering his hand in greeting.

Leo took it warmly. "Leo Wyatt."

The only one not to come and greet him was Angel, Cordelia being the first one to voice it. "Angel, why aren't you saying hello?"

Angel tried to move forward, but he cringed and stepped back again. "It's the demon, it's taking every bit of control I have just to stop from running for the hills. I'm not entirely sure I'll be able to go with you. I'll take the car and see you there this evening."

"Xander did say that you might have an aversion due to your demon," Leo noted, remembering Xander saying the same thing to Angel on the phone, "but he'd hoped that your soul might compensate like it does for Cole."

"I'm sure he did," the souled one commented sarcastically.

"Listen up Angel," the Whitelighter said sharply, taking the group aback by its suddenness, "whatever problems you might have with Xander, he put them aside for the sake of Buffy and Dawn. I suggest you do the same."

Angel had to take a step back due to the sudden rise in power coming from the Whitelighter, his loyalty to Xander shining like a beacon. The problem was he knew Leo was right; Xander wouldn't put him under undue pain when Buffy was at risk. His dislike for the carpenter and his pride prevented him from saying so however. Instead he twisted round, grabbed the weapons off the floor, and made his way to the stairs leading to the underground car park. "I'll bring the weapons with me so there's less for you to carry. I'll see you all later." Not waiting for an answer he disappeared down the stairs.

Gunn decided to try and lighten the mood a little, going over to Leo and clapping him on the back. "Don't mind him; he's always cranky in the mornings. Come to think of it, he's cranky in the afternoons, evenings and at night as well."

"He isn't what I'd describe as a people person," Leo said diplomatically, not wanting to antagonise the rest of the group.

"What do you expect; he is a vamp after all."

"The problem with Xander and Angel," Wesley began, "is that the only thing they'd admit to having in common is the thing that keeps them at each other's throats."

"What Wesley's trying to say," Cordelia piped in, "is that they both have a thing for Buffy and hate each other for it."

Leo nodded in acknowledgement, as he had already surmised it was probably something like that. It didn't surprise him that Xander found it difficult working with the souled vampire, given his distaste for them, and their mutual feelings for the blonde Slayer only made it worse. He just hoped that they'd be able to put aside their differences, at least until after they'd rescued Buffy.

Realising that there wasn't much more to say, he decided to get back to the point of his being there. "Right, if everyone's ready I'll just need you to join hands so I can orb us all to P3." He could see Wesley and Gunn's reluctant expression and explained. "I need to be in physical contact with whoever I'm orbing otherwise it won't work."

Cordelia quickly moved to Leo's side, almost standing on top of him, and grasped his hand, rubbing her thumb over the back of it a couple of times while flashing her best smile at him once again. Leo was doing his best to ignore her advances, knowing that if he showed any hint of interest that she'd only persist in flirting with him, but he was finding it a greater test on his will power than he first thought it would. He had already realised that he was going to have Piper glaring daggers at him the moment she saw the way Cordelia was acting towards him, the last thing he needed was for her to think that it was a two way street.

Gunn bit the bullet and grabbed Leo's other hand, while Wesley grasped Gunn and Cordelia's free hands to complete the circle. They all had holdalls over their shoulders with clothes for their stay, not to mention their favourite weapon, the rest of the arsenal taken by Angel when he stalked off.

Leo looked at the three and remembered that they'd never orbed before. "I better warn you that orbing is a strange experience, and you might feel a little queasy when we arrive. It's perfectly normal and you get used to it after a while, but the first time is always the worst."

They all nodded in thanks for the warning and after taking a moment to calm himself, Leo orbed them all to San Francisco.

**The Magic Box,  
Sunnydale,  
California.**

Giles, Willow and Tara were all waiting nervously for Cole to arrive. Ever since hearing that Dawn had also been taken, although this time not for insidious purposes, they had all been at their wits end. They all wanted to be there to help in any way they could, and to be told that they wouldn't be collected for another day was hard pill to swallow. The silver lining had come when they heard Xander's voice, indicating that he had gotten through his temporary breakdown and was once again ready to for action.

A distortion in the air caught Giles' attention, reminding him how most of California looked at the height of summer, and saw Cole appear. Willow and Tara sensed the sudden source of power and whipped their heads round to see what caused it. They were surprised that it was Cole, as he hadn't registered anything like as powerful the last time he was in Sunnydale.

"Cole," Giles greeted, "nice to see you again."

"Likewise," Cole replied, trying not to allow the way they had been treating Xander to colour his own interactions with them. "Hello Willow, Tara."

"Hi," they replied together.

Cole looked round with a slight frown on his face. "Where's Riley?"

"He decided that the military was the best place for him."

Cole could read between the lines and just nodded in acceptance of the answer. He wasn't all that upset that Riley wasn't there, as he hadn't made a stellar impression on him when they first met.

"How's Xander?" the redhead asked worriedly.

"He's fine Willow, he's gone with Paige to get Dawn back."

"On his own! He could get hurt!" she exclaimed.

Cole didn't even bother suppressing the eye roll that comment induced. "I think we better get something straight before we go back. I'm guessing that you felt my approach?"

"Yeah," Willow replied, "when did you get the power boost?"

"I didn't, I've just learnt how to suppress my power signature. It came in handy in my previous profession to move around undetected. When I shimmer, it's impossible to suppress it all and that is why you felt me. What you actually felt was a fraction of my true power." He could see that Tara and Giles believed what he was saying, but Willow had doubt in her eyes. "You don't believe me?" He stopped suppressing his power signature and the other three occupants were almost overwhelmed by its intensity.

Cole knew he was pushing his luck a little, as although the Source couldn't come to the Hellmouth, it didn't mean that he couldn't send someone else in his stead. However, he knew that Willow had to be made aware of just how capable her friend was so when they started planning how to rescue Buffy she wouldn't be a distraction.

"Good lord, no wonder you try to hide it!" Giles exclaimed.

He hadn't sensed him before, being somewhat out of practise, but even the most magically inept person could have felt the power that Cole had produced.

"You can all feel how powerful I am, but Xander is even more so. Right now there isn't a more capable person to retrieve Dawn from the Elders than Xander, and he's going to need everyone's support when we go get Buffy. That means you have to start seeing Xander as he is, not how he was when you first met."

Willow went to refute what he was saying, but she found herself unable to talk. Cole's gaze was so intense that it removed her capacity to speak. She'd spent the last few days doing just what Cole said, trying to see Xander for what he is rather than how she wanted him to be. It made her feel bad that she wanted him to be less than capable at defending himself, especially when he's always been one of the strongest people she knew. Maybe not physically, but emotionally nobody had him beat. She nodded in acceptance of what he was telling her, although she knew that deep down she hadn't fully understood.

"How is Joyce holding up?" Giles asked, knowing that she was going through a mother's worst nightmare right now.

"Barely. Having Xander up and around again has helped, but I doubt she'll be anywhere near her normal self until both of her daughters have been freed from captivity."

Cole checked his watch and realised that they really didn't have a great deal of time, so he decided to get back on track. "Alright, do you all have everything you think you might need?" They all nod in the affirmative, picking up their gear in readiness. "Okay, everyone hold hand and I'll get this show on the road. It will feel disorientating, so don't worry if you feel nauseous when we get there."

Willow and Tara take Cole's hands, Giles closing off the circle by grasping their free ones. Preparing himself for the extra strain, Cole took a deep breath and shimmered them all to P3.

**Elders Realm.**

Xander forced open the doors to the chamber and stalked in, quickly finding Dawn huddled in the far corner of the room, a barrier spell preventing her from moving very far and a mystical gag round her mouth. He figured that she'd been using the skills he and Buffy had taught her to get under the Elders' skin, and smiled proudly that she'd annoyed them enough that they had to gag her.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"You cannot take her!"

Ignoring the Elders ranting, Xander went over to her and reversed both spells easily, and then gently laid his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey Dawn Patrol," he greeted her softly, "it's time to go home."

Dawn's head snapped round to face him, her eyes wide with shock at hearing his voice. "Xander!" she squealed happily. She span round and hugged him like her life depended on it, which Xander reminded himself it did, and began crying heavily on his shoulder.

After gently wrapping his arms around her, Xander stood up and began walking back to the door, but paused halfway and turned his attention to the Seven.

"If you ever try something like this again, to Dawn or anyone else," he began, his tone dark and menacing, "I swear that after I've dealt with the Source and Glory, you'll be next. You're supposed to be the good guys, fucking act like it."

"We will not be spoken to like this!" the centre Elder roared, although none of them made a move against him.

"When you take an innocent against their will, restrict their movement and gag them, with the intention of keeping them away from everyone they know and love, you deserve to spoken to like that!" he roared, causing the Seven to be silent.

Knowing that they were listening he lowered his voice slightly, but the tone was still firm and unyielding. "Fighting the forces of evil is difficult enough as it is; don't make it more so by blurring the lines between good and evil. I agree that Dawn needs to be protected, and that she needs to be kept away from Glory, but not at the expense of her life or liberty. She is an innocent human being with the same rights and privileges as any other, and you are honour bound to uphold them. I will not stand for you using people as pawns in some whacked out chess game, for that will make you no better than the demons we fight and I shall treat you as such. We all know that I have both the will and the ability to carry out my threat, so it will be in your best interest to ensure I don't have reason to."

Assured that he had gotten his point across, Xander once again made his way to the door, Dawn hanging onto him as tightly as ever. Once outside he closed the doors and breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that they didn't try and prevent him from retrieving her. What he had said was true, he did have both the will and the ability to take out the Elders, but it was something that he didn't want to do unless given no other option.

Paige spotted them and came over, walking side by side with a tall man with short grey hair. As they get closer, Xander's abilities kicked in and he recognised who it was.

"Sam?"

"The One Who Sees!?" Sam Wilder, Whitelighter to Patty Halliwell and father of Paige, turned to his daughter in astonishment. "I was told that he had activated your powers, but I just didn't believe it."

"Hey I didn't even know I was The One Who Sees until last week." Xander adjusted his hold on Dawn slightly so he could offer his hand to Sam, who accepted the offer and shook it firmly. "I know you want to stay and chat to your dad Paige," he told her regretfully, "but I really need to take Dawnie here to Joyce as soon as possible."

Paige turned and hugged her father, relishing in the fact that he was alive, or as alive as a Whitelighter could get anyway, before releasing him and taking Xander's hand. With a final wave, Paige orbed them back to the manor, leaving Sam standing there with a large smile on his face and a tear rolling down his cheek.

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Joyce felt a little unnerved all alone in the manor, the silence giving the building an eerie quality to it, which was only accentuated by the carnage made by the demon assassins. She wouldn't be alone for long, as Prue had only popped out to the local store to get a few essentials, but it would be long enough. A bemused smile appeared on her face despite her being fraught with worry, as she doubted that she would ever get used to thinking of things like demon assassins and mean it. The smile vanished as quickly as it appeared, the almost overwhelming situation she was currently in replaying in her mind once more.

She had no idea what she'd do if… no, she wouldn't allow herself to finish thoughts like that, because they weren't going to happen. Xander would be bringing Dawn to her any minute now and tonight they'd rescue Buffy. That was the way things were going to happen, that was the only way that things were going to happen.

The sparkle of blue lights indicated that someone was orbing into the room, and her face almost split in two the way she was smiling at the sight of a sleeping Dawn in Xander's arms. She rushed over and gently took her daughter from Xander, kissing him on the cheek before he could react and began hugging Dawn like it was going out of fashion.

Dawn's eyes fluttered open and she squinted slightly to see who was holding her. "Mom?"

"Yeah baby, you're safe now. I was so worried about you honey," she sobbed, holding Dawn even tighter if that were possible. By the way that Dawn was turning blue, Xander figured that she might be hugging a little too hard.

"Um, Joyce? I think the Dawnster is in need of air."

Joyce looked down and saw the unnatural colour Dawn's face was and immediately relaxed her grip, making sure that she didn't relax too much so she could wriggle free. If it were up to her she'd have Dawn surgically attached to her so she'd never have to go through something like that again.

While she would never admit it, Dawn was thinking along similar lines. Even though she was growing up now and didn't want to act like a little girl anymore, she doubted that she'd ever get tired of being held in her mother's arms.

Ever since her mom had to go into hospital, Dawn had stopped trying to get away from the tactile displays of affection her mom wanted to bestow, the concept that each one might be the last acting like a large glass of cold water being thrown over her. Listening to the rhythmic beat of her mom's heart, Dawn slowly drifted back off to sleep, her ordeal sapping all of her energy.

Joyce walked into the living room, quickly followed by Xander and Paige, where she settled herself onto the couch and promptly follows her daughter into the land of slumber.

"I'm sorry I had to pull you away from you dad Paige," Xander said again, feeling guilty that he had to cut the happy reunion short.

"That's okay," she told him sincerely, knowing that he wouldn't have done it maliciously. "Now I know he isn't dead, well, isn't the kind of dead that would make conversation difficult, I'll get to see him again."

Now Xander had a chance to think about it, he was surprised that he hadn't known about Sam's situation himself, given that he was supposed to know everything. He knew it all now, which told him that the information was there, but for whatever reason he hadn't actually known until he saw the man in the flesh, so to speak. It did make sense in a way, as with the vast amount of knowledge in his head he'd probably get overloaded if it were in his conscious mind at all times, but it still irked him that he hadn't been able to give Paige some peace of mind and assure her of her father's welfare.

"I've just realised that I haven't been filling my daily quota of coffee," Paige said suddenly, pulling him out of his internal musings. "Do you want one?"

"God yes," he breathed, finding himself in need of a caffeine fix.

"How do you like it?"

"Hot, sweet, and black like toffee. You know, like my men."

She looked at him oddly for a moment before simply nodding and making her way to the kitchen. As one sister left another arrived, as Prue came in with a bag of groceries.

"You got her?" she asked immediately upon seeing Xander standing there.

"Yep, she's sleeping happily on the couch in the safest place a girl could be."

"Where's that?"

"Her mother's arms."

"Aww, you're a real softie at heart aren't you?" she teased.

"Just don't spread it around," he replied mock severely, "I have a reputation as a rugged construction worker to maintain."

A ringing from Prue's bag interrupted their banter and after passing off the groceries to Xander quickly retrieved it. After speaking to the person on the other line for a minute, she ended the call and looks at Xander. "Leo and Cole are back, but we're going to have to wait for Angel."

"I thought that might happen," Xander commented, guessing the reason why. "Oh well, if I know Deadboy he'll be breaking every traffic law in existence and pushing the laws of physics to the limit to be here as soon as possible, so we shouldn't have to wait long for his brooding ass to show up."

"Are you really going to be able to work with him? It's obvious that you pretty much despise him."

"The reasons I don't like the hair gel ho are more personal than professional; when it comes to business I know he'll get the job done. It's the possibility of us killing each other before and after we've taken care of business that you need to worry about."

"Seriously?"

Xander sighed. "Not really, we just have a tendency to rub each other up the wrong way." He took another look at the two women sleeping peacefully on the couch. "I don't want to wake either of them just yet, so why don't you, Paige and I have a drink and wake them in an hour. It'll probably take me that long to prepare myself anyway."

"What for?"

"Cordelia," he replied with a mock shudder.


	25. Chapter Twenty Five

_**Chapter Twenty-Five**_

**P3,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

As the group entered the club, they could hear the others chatting amongst themselves. Only then did it hit Xander that he would have to face Willow and Giles, two more people that he had issues with. He wanted to focus on tonight, but he wasn't sure that he could hold his temper in their presence. He slowed his descent down the stairs, wanting to postpone the less than joyous reunion as long as possible.

Seeing what Xander was doing, Joyce told the others to go on ahead for a moment, even Dawn, who she as yet had not allowed out of her sight. She figured that as the club were filled with people who would protect her daughter with their lives, she couldn't really be any safer.

"Xander, are you alright?" she asked him.

"Of course I…" he trailed off at the look Joyce was sending his way. "… Not really."

"I know you don't want to speak to them," she began, not needing to specify just whom she was referring to, "but you're going to have to, at least enough to explain the situation and work out a plan."

"I know," he sighed. "The problem I have is that I'm not sure I'll be able to stop myself from starting an argument."

"Well I'm sure that between the rest of us we'll be able to diffuse any tense situations. I think they're realising how badly they've messed up, so I don't think you'll have any problems on that front."

"Good, because I really don't need it right now. I need to focus on saving Buffy and killing Malcolm, and I won't be able to do that if I have to deal with them. Not to mention that having both Deadboy and Cordy around will test the very limits of my tolerance."

"From what I hear, they were both on your side concerning how the others have been treating you, so I'm not sure you have a lot to worry about."

"I hope you're right."

"I'm a woman, I'm always right."

"And on that note…" Xander quickened his pace down the stairs into the club, a smirking Joyce following close behind.

Upon entering the club, Xander immediately spotted Willow, who started running over to him until Prue and Piper blocked her path. He nodded gratefully to the two sisters as he made his way over to the bar area, deciding that his best bet was with the only person in the room he didn't know.

"Hey, you must be Gunn," he said as he got close enough to talk.

The man in question turned round and, after recognising him from a photo he saw in Cordelia's apartment, shook the proffered hand.

"Guilty as charged. Xander right?"

"Yeah. I just wanted to say thanks for coming."

"Hey, I never like to pass up a chance at taking the bad guys down a peg or two," Gunn told him, waving away the gratitude with a smile. "Anyway, there was no way I'd miss meeting someone who can produce the reactions you do from Cor and Angel. Speaking of which…"

"Xander!"

The unmistakable sound of one Cordelia Chase shouting his name, as she'd done a thousand times before, caught Xander's attention and he turned round. A split second later, a beautiful brunette blur was charging towards him and attached itself to his side.

"Hey Cor, looking good."

She looked up at him and flashed her trademark 1000-Watt smile. "Well, duh! I always look good."

He was glad that he'd been expecting the slap she hit him with, otherwise he might have 'flamed on' as he liked to call it; he might not be able to fly, but he knew his flame was far cooler than Jonny's. Also, by keeping under control, he wasn't led into conversations he didn't want to have at that moment.

"What the hell have you gotten me into Doofus!" she yelled, the glare she'd been sending his way moving up a notch from his comment.

"Well, there was that time on my birthday when…"

"I meant now stupid!" she shouted to interrupt him, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks.

"Oh," he said with a grin. "Nothing you couldn't have refused to do Cor. You know better than anyone that I wouldn't take your choice away."

Cordelia's rage left as soon as it had arrived. "There you go again, actually making sense. When did you go get a brain transplant?"

"The same day as your personality transplant I'd imagine."

"Why you…"

"Listen Cordy," he sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly, "I've had a hell of a week so far and I'm in no mood for our usual verbal sparring, so if you have anything to say that isn't an insult I'm all ears, but other than that please just leave me alone."

It was the genuine weariness in his voice and not his words that made Cordelia comply with his wishes and forego their 'argument'. No one else knew this, but she and Xander had met up last year when he had to be in LA for business and had cleared the air between them, both realising that it was counter productive to let any animosity remain between them when they'd rarely see each other.

It hadn't been that hard to do in the end, as her time in Los Angeles had given her time to reflect on the person she had been in Sunnydale and could see that, while what Xander had done in kissing Willow behind her back was wrong, it was also something she had done to previous boyfriends on numerous occasions. It also helped that he was genuinely remorseful for his actions, and had gone out of his way to make it up to her, buying her prom dress for her a shining example of that. She also knew that he'd followed her home at night; not in a stalker way, but to ensure she got back safely.

Seeing Xander now, she could see that the past week had taken its toll on him. Physically he looked fine, in fact he looked better than ever, not that she would admit that, but she could tell by his eyes that emotionally he was running on nothing but fumes. Not that she could blame him for being that way considering, a lesser man would have given up long ago, but giving up wasn't something Xander knew how to do.

"What's it feel like to be in the spotlight?" she asked eventually, deliberately steering clear of the obvious questions like 'how are you?'.

"Lets just say I'd rather be a supporting actor instead of a leading man. There's too much riding on what I do for me to take any sort of satisfaction out of it."

She nodded, her own experience at being in the spotlight at high school giving her a little insight into what he meant, even if it wasn't quite the same thing. She then remembered what happened before they got there and smirked slightly. "Did you send Leo on purpose to annoy Angel?"

"No, although it does sound like something I'd do," he admitted, a small smile forming on his face for a moment before vanishing from sight. "Whitelighters aren't allowed on the Hellmouth so there was little option, and I had warned Deadboy that he might not feel too good around him. I guess the effect was worse than I thought it would be, given that his royal broodiness isn't here."

"So, do you have anything that looks like a plan, or are you thinking of taking a page out of Buffy's book and just charge in guns blazing?"

"Buffy doesn't have a book," he snorted, thinking of the 'brilliant strategic planning' the blonde Slayer possessed, "she has the back of a postage stamp and even then there's only one word; 'Charge!'. I do have a plan, it's just not one many will like, at least not those coming from Sunnydale anyway, but I'll get into that once Deadboy is here because I don't want to go through it twice."

Although he had been trying to ignore them, Xander couldn't help but notice the Sunnydale group in the far corner of the club eyeing him. It was obvious that Willow wanted to join them, but Giles and Tara, with the help of the P's, were keeping her occupied or restrained as much as they could. He sighed silently, knowing he would have to speak to them eventually, but wanting to drag it out as long as possible.

Xander spotted Wesley coming over and once he was within distance, held out his hand. After looking in surprise for a moment, the former Watcher shook it firmly. "How you doing Wes?" Xander asked, genuinely curious.

"Fine thank you Mr… Xander. May I take this opportunity to offer my condolences for your recent loss."

Xander's eyes flashed green for a moment at being reminded of Anya and his parents, something that Cordelia and the others noticed, before responding. "Thanks." He remembered that they probably didn't know about the most recent development so he turned to Cordelia, who would probably be the most affected. "I don't know if you're aware, but my parents are dead."

"Oh god, Xander. Are you okay? Do you know what happened?" she asked, knowing how he would take it. Neither herself nor Xander hit the jackpot when it came to parents, but that didn't mean that either one would want them dead.

"Answering in order; yes and Spike."

Going by the tone he used, Cordelia knew not to ask any more. "Oh. So, what's with the whole green eye thing then?"

He winced slightly, knowing that his luck had run out. "I've been given an upgrade, it comes with the green eyes and a few other extras."

"Such as?" Gunn asked.

Xander didn't have time to answer as a shrill noise interrupted them. "Xander Harris, come over here this instant!"

Xander could feel the flames beginning to appear, and quickly turned to Cordelia. "$10 bucks Willow will say I've been possessed again."

Seeing the flames that were growing around his body, Cordelia shook her head. "I don't take suckers bets."

No longer fighting the change, the flames instantly doubled in size, causing Cordelia and the others to instinctively take a step back despite the lack of heat.

"He's been possessed again!"

"Xander, look out!"

Prue's warning came a moment too late, as Xander was struck from behind by a large blast of magical energy thrown his way by Willow, knocking him to the ground. He quickly realised that he hadn't been hurt by the blast, simply knocked off balance, and quickly got to his feet and span round to face his attacker.

What he saw surprised him; Willow's generally blemish free face was now marred by black veins, her eyes were now obsidian and her normally red hair was the same colour. He knew enough about magic to realise that she'd lost control of her powers and was now running on her baser instincts.

"Hello Willow."

His voice had taken the same hollow and echo-like quality it had when he first came out of his coma, and coupled with the billowing flames surrounding him, Prue and the others knew that he was seriously pissed. Not that they could blame him, if they'd just been attacked from behind by someone they'd known since kindergarten they wouldn't be best pleased themselves.

"Get out of my friend's body," Willow demanded, her own voice sounding less human than it had a moment ago.

"Willow, I'm neither possessed or your friend."

"The Xander I know wouldn't say that, nor does he have green flames covering his body."

"The Willow I know wouldn't be all black eyed, raven-haired and veiny like you, so that means you must be possessed too."

"No! Leave him now!"

As she went to fire another blast, wanting to expel whatever evil entity had obviously taken residence in Xander's body, Piper waved her hands and froze her on the spot.

"Xander, are you alright?" the Charmed One asked.

"Yeah, I'm just peachy with a double helping of keen," he replied sarcastically. "She's known me all her life and the first thing she does when she thinks I'm possessed is to try and blast me out of existence."

"What's going on Xander?" Tara asked eventually, moving towards Xander and the still frozen Willow despite what she had just witnessed.

She had been shocked by the power she felt emanating from him when he had initially unleashed it, but unlike her girlfriend she had not thought ill of him. She could sense that behind the, to her, scary persona he was currently using, he was still the warm and gentle person she had grown to care for like a brother.

"Don't worry Tara," he soothed, his tone far more warm than it was with Willow, but still with that hollow quality to it. "Willow isn't hurt, and the affects will wear off in a little while. I'm surprised it worked actually," he commented, turning to Piper.

"She's a practitioner, not a natural born witch," Piper explained, knowing what Xander was referring to. "In fact I can actually feel her power fading as we speak. It hasn't completely, but the power she has now is far less than it was when they first arrived, and I doubt she'd even be able to scry at the moment. Whether it will continue to dwindle until she is completely without magical ability I don't know, only time will tell."

"Must be her distance from the Hellmouth," Xander thought aloud. "It must have been feeding her somehow, which would account for her sudden increase in power the last couple of years."

"Why are you on fire and why are your eyes green?" Giles asked, finally finding his voice.

The newly reinstated Watcher was ashamed to admit that he had come to the same conclusion as Willow upon seeing Xander's transformation, although he didn't condone Willow's knee jerk reaction no matter what the circumstances.

Even if they had been correct, and Xander had indeed been possessed by some demon or spirit, Giles would not have sought to kill him unless all other avenues had been tried and proven unsuccessful. The troubling thought was that he was aware of the spell she had used, and knew that Willow hadn't in fact been trying to kill him either, which meant that she had nowhere near the control over her magical ability he thought she did for it to have backfired as it id.

That of course didn't matter; the fact that the first thing they thought upon seeing Xander wielding such large amounts of power did. He should have known that the young man was fine; Leo had told him that Xander was in possession of a large well of power that had until recently been dormant, and the sisters had informed them all that he was in fact now in complete control of all his abilities. Even Cole when he came to collect them explained that he was powerful, more powerful then the half-demon in fact, and Giles could attest that Cole's power was formidable to say the least. However, like many times previous, he had misjudged him.

It was that reflexive response, that anything happening to Xander must be bad, that had garnered Xander's ire in the first place, not to mention their foolish belief that he was incapable of defending himself, despite all evidence to the contrary. Giles knew that, for himself and the others to ever get back on a more friendly footing with the young man, they would have to stop prejudging him and instead give him the benefit of the doubt and have faith in his abilities.

"The 'glowy green eye' thing seems to be a side effect from the spell the Elders or monks did on me. I'm still not used to it so when I'm stressed or upset it happen involuntarily. The flames are a new addition, but I can't say I'm complaining."

"It seems we have a lot to talk about my lad."

"I'm not your lad and I don't see that we have anything to talk about Mr. Giles," Xander ground out, finding it difficult to remain calm in his 'friend's' presence, especially after what Willow had tried to do. "You're here because I might need your help, nothing more. Once this is over, we'll talk, but until then I'd appreciate it if you just leave me alone."

"But Xander…" both Giles and the now unfrozen Willow said in unison.

"Silence."

Everyone in the room with any sort of mystical background could feel the power behind that word, knowing instantly that he had just cast a spell. Looking at Giles and Willow, they could see exactly what spell it was. Both were looking decided panicked, which wasn't surprising as their mouths were now missing, smooth skin taking their place.

"Xander, reverse it," Joyce told him sternly; shocked that he would do something like that to them.

Xander looked at Joyce and for a moment she was actually afraid of him, something she'd never felt about him before.

"It will wear off in an hour Joyce," he informed her, his tone flat and emotionless, "which should give them enough time to think about things."

"That's not the point."

"Perhaps," he conceded, "but I've found that certain people only learn their lesson when they experience the consequences of their actions."

Xander closed his eyes for a moment and mentally willed the flames to disappear before addressing everyone. "Right, I suggest that we all make ourselves comfortable while we wait for the Transylvanian Concubine to arrive, which will probably be only an hour or so, and then we'll get this ball rolling."

* * *

As Xander predicted, it was only an hour or so later that a cursing and swearing Angel came rushing down the stairs of the club, covered in a heavy duty cloth to give him some protection from the sun, although he was still smoking slightly. Once he was sufficiently extinguished and far enough away from Leo that he could relax slightly, Xander began.

"Okay, it seems like introductions are in order and as I'm the only person that links all three groups, it's down to me to do it. Seeing as we're in their town, not to mention their club, I'll start with the delectable Halliwell sisters.

"First we have Prue, who can bowl men over with but a look and a person who can have an out of body experience without the annoying near death side effects. Then there's Piper, who's nearly as good a cook as Joyce, which is something I never thought was possible, and who never has an excuse for being late. The man standing behind her is her fiancé Leo, who's the closest thing you'll see to a bona fide angel without wings and a halo. Next is Phoebe, who is a vision in more ways than one, and who often feels like she's walking on air. The man she's straddling is her boyfriend Cole, otherwise known as Belthazor who is a lot like Deadboy over there but without the brooding or the forehead. Last but by no means least is Paige Matthews, a new arrival into clan Halliwell whose introduction into our world was only recently.

"Next we have the LA crew, beginning with Cordelia Chase, who is as blunt as she is beautiful, and always willing to tell you what you need to hear instead of what you want to hear. Next to her is Wesley, former Watcher turned rogue demon hunter, who seems to have finally removed the rod from his ass and grown some balls. Then there's Gunn, who from what I've been told swings a mean battleaxe and is living proof that you don't need to have formal training or funky powers to survive in our world. Lastly there's Deadboy, otherwise known as Angel, who will never be on my Christmas card list but will always be on my 'call in the cavalry' list. Yes, he does brood a lot, but considering the alternative it's better that way.

"Then we have the Sunnydale group, starting off with Joyce 'never cooked a meal I didn't like' Summers, who is as beautiful as she is caring and the mother I would have chosen had I been given such a privilege. Then you have her youngest daughter Dawn, the best little sister I could have asked for and president of the 'Xander is a hunka hunka burnin' love' fanclub. Next we have Rupert 'Ripper' Giles, de-facto father to us reprobates and a man who manages to make Tweed look good. Then we have Willow, a woman who has known me longer than I've known myself and one of the most… knowledgeable people I know. Finally we come to Tara, Willow's better half and owner of one of the purest souls that has ever existed.

"You're all here for one reason; to help rescue Buffy Summers, Vampire Slayer and more importantly Joyce's eldest daughter, from The Source. It isn't going to be easy, but then again nothing worth doing ever is. The secondary objective, the one I'll be doing alone, is destroying Buffy's captor."

"Why will you be doing it alone?" Cordelia asked.

"Because I'm the only one who can do it."

"What are you gonna do, kill him by telling your jokes?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of breaking every bone in his body as slowly and painfully as possible actually, but I might leave the jokes as a contingency plan just in case I have problems breaking his funny bone."

Seeing the looks he was getting from Cordelia and the others, Xander went on. "The bastard killed my girlfriend, had my parent's killed, kidnapped a friend of mine and, worst of all, insists on calling me Alexander. That alone gives me the right to turn him into a pretzel shaped demon, and if you add the nifty little prophecy stating that I'm to destroy him I'd say that pretty much settles it."

"How do we save Buffy?" Angel asked, honestly not all that bothered about Xander's seemingly suicide mission.

"You'll have to split up into teams; one will act as a diversion while the other, smaller one will actually rescue Buffy. Cole will be on the team to rescue her, as he knows the place better than almost anyone else, aside from myself and Malcolm."

"Malcolm?" Cordelia asked.

"The Source."

"No wonder he's so evil with a name like Malcolm."

"I would suggest Angel go with Cole," he continued, ignoring Cordelia's comment, "as while I hate to admit it, he's the best at getting around unnoticed, and Buffy would no doubt like to see a friendly face. The third person should be Paige…"

"What!"

"Ladies," he said calmly to the four sisters, who were all currently glaring daggers at him, "I know you four want to stay together, but to be blunt, it's the Power of Three not the Power of Four. Paige will be able to back them up magically, and also help heal any injuries Buffy might have."

"I might have the power, but I've only known I was a witch for a couple of days," Paige reminded him, worried that he was putting too much faith in her.

"I've only known I was The One Who Sees for a week, and I'm doing fine."

"Yeah, but you cheated and had the Elders speed up the process…"

"… Something I can do for you as well," he said, cutting her off. "The spell wouldn't be as intensive as the one I went through, it would just be a download of the basics of magic, starting with the Rule of Three of course," he added when he saw the looks he was receiving from the Charmed Ones. "You'd be able to cast a few simple offensive and defensive spells as though you'd been born doing it, but for anything else you'll have to learn it just like everyone else."

"Do I have a choice?" she asked warily.

"Always," he responded immediately, wanting to ensure she knew he would never take away her right to choose. "I'm sure Deadboy and Cole could do it without you, but I'd prefer them to have some additional back-up, and have someone there in case Buffy is injured. Knowing her she'd want to get back at whoever is in her line of sight once she's free and I'd like her to be as close to 100 to do so."

"Shouldn't we just get her straight out?" she asked reasonably.

"You haven't met Buffy yet," he replied, garnering small smiles from all who did know her, "but the only way you'll get her to do anything is if she wants to do it anyway. So, feel like getting a head start in the whole magic scene?"

Paige thought about for all of two seconds before answering. "Sure."

Just like the Elders had done with him, he cast the spell the moment she answered in the affirmative. Luckily, she only got a fraction of the knowledge Xander did, so she simply felt woozy for a moment instead of being put into a coma.

"Give it a try," he told her once she got her bearings again, "something simple like a fire spell."

"Xander," Giles began tentatively, not wanting to lose the power of speech again, "elemental magic is extremely complex."

"Not for natural born witches; they're naturally able to perform magic so they can attune with nature, the elements, far easier."

Paige meanwhile had ignored their conversation and attempted the spell. A couple of moments later a small fire spelling out her name appeared in front of her. Unlike Xander's flame, this one did emit heat, so after allowing it to burn for a few seconds longer, she reversed the spell and the flames disappeared.

"Right, now for the diversionary team; The Charmed Ones naturally, as you've got more reasons than most to take this war to them, not to mention that the demons will flock to you like moths to a flame. I know you don't like the pro-active approach to demon fighting, but we're trying to not only ensure the Source is gone, but to put a severe dent in the demonic forces that might try to fill the void that would be left. For back up, you'll have the Watchers-no-more, who both have some magical ability and know how to weald a blade with deadly accuracy. If you help them to 'Charm' their blades, it'll give them an extra edge."

"What about the rest of us?" Cordelia asked, noticing her absence from the plan so far.

"Gunn, Willow and Tara will be waiting outside to provide extra assistance if necessary. The rest of you will be staying here."

"No way in hell are you leaving me out of this!" Cordelia screamed immediately upon realising she wasn't going along.

Not wanting to have this conversation in front of everyone, Xander grabbed Cordelia by the elbow and led her to the office before anyone could say a word. "Look, I'm not leaving you out."

"Well what do you call it?" she snapped.

"Looking after two of the most important people in the world to me," he replied seriously, cutting right through her ire. "Leo can't go because he's a full Whitelighter, and I can't think of anyone who would protect Joyce and Dawn more fervently than you."

"Well," she said, feeling a little flustered, not to mention foolish, "alright then."

She should have known that Xander wasn't trying to keep her out of the fight, knowing how much he hated it when it was done to him. It actually made her feel good that he thought she was capable enough to keep Joyce and Dawn safe, as she did indeed know that they are two of the most important people in his life. All she wanted to do now was prove his faith in her was justified.

"Now," Xander continued, "lets get back in so we can work out the finer points of my master plan."

"Like making sure you don't get your dumb ass killed."

"I don't get to die until I've fulfilled my greatest fantasy."

"You're not having any janitor's closet flashbacks are you?" she asked with a small smile.

"No, I see you as nothing more than a friend. A kickass, gorgeous friend with legs that don't quit," he added with a leer, "but a friend nonetheless."

"Damn straight," she agreed, inwardly pleased that he still thought she was hot. "Seriously though Xander you better not die, as there are a lot of people who like having you in their lives, me included."

Xander drew Cordelia into a hug. "I've no plans on meeting my maker just yet Cor, not until I'm so old I find blended food too hard to chew and Matlock the best show ever made."

"Good."

* * *

It took almost an hour for the plan to be finalised, and by then most of them were all more than a little antsy. It was for that reason that Xander thought that the best thing to do would be to get a little training in.

He had the magic wielders together, working out the best and most efficient spells they'd need. He even had Giles and Wesley practising their skills, knowing it was better to have something and not need it than to need it and not have it.

On top of brushing up on their mojo, he also had the group working on the weaponry, blessing them or warding them against damage, to give them every advantage. Lastly, they were checking on Willow's magical ability now that she was cut off from the Hellmouth.

He guessed that at the moment Willow would probably be as powerful as she was senior year of high school, which was, if he remembered right, hardly powerful at all. From a military standpoint it meant that they had one less heavy hitter available to them, on the other it gave them an indicator as to why Willow's growth in power was coupled with her growth of arrogance and superiority.

In any event, it would mean that Tara would have to take up the slack, which Xander didn't think she'd find all that difficult. She might not use it as freely as Willow, but he knew that she was almost as powerful when she put her mind to it, and a damn sight more controlled too.

Remembering that Tara was in fact a natural born witch, he would need to talk with Leo concerning assigning a Whitelighter to her, which would have one major obstacle to it all the time she was a Sunnydale resident, but living on the Hellmouth meant that she was in even greater need for one.

Cole was going through some basic self-defence techniques with Joyce and Dawn, Cordelia joining in to make things even. It had taken Xander a while to get Joyce to agree, but after reminding her that with the world they lived in, knowing how to defend themselves wasn't just important, it was necessary.

Leo and Gunn were doing a little sword training, the Whitelighter wanting to brush up on skills he hadn't needed in decades and Gunn wanting to learn from someone who was closer to his own speed and strength. Angel had tried on a couple of occasions to spar with Gunn, but the young fighter found it difficult to train with someone who could almost move faster than he could see and could lift him up one handed without breaking a sweat.

That left Xander and Angel as the only ones not doing anything, and that was exactly how he wanted it.

"Hey Deadboy, fancy a spar?"

Angel looked over at Xander and didn't bother to suppress the smirk that appeared on his face. He hadn't lied when he'd told Spike he respected him; it would be hard not to respect a normal human that went out and fought things faster and stronger for years and live to tell about it, but for him to think that he could fight him at his level was a little extreme.

While he might be saddened to see a fellow warrior for light fall, he knew that both Cordelia and Buffy would be devastated if the boy did die, so maybe knocking some sense into him now would be the right thing to do. The fact it meant Angel could hit him and not get any flack for it made it all the sweeter, as although he did respect him, he really didn't like him.

"Sure," he replied, trying to keep the eagerness out of his voice, "why not."


	26. Chapter Twenty Six

_**Chapter Twenty-Six**_

**P3,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

As the rest of the group realised that Xander and Angel were about to 'spar', they stopped their own practise in order to watch. Only Cole and Leo had actually seen what Xander was truly capable of, so they were the only ones who weren't showing any concern about what was about to happen, only professional interest and maybe a little anticipation.

The half demon knew that neither himself nor Xander had gone all out during their sparring session a few days ago, neither one wanting to risk pressing their ability to control their blows, but from what Cole had seen he had little doubt that Xander would have bested him, and he didn't consider the young man's status as 'The One Who Sees' as a contributory factor.

Leo also knew that Xander was definitely a worthy opponent for anyone in the room, and was gaining confidence with every moment that passed that they would indeed be witnessing the end of The Source tonight. Before Xander came into their lives, Leo had never truly thought that Piper and the others would defeat The Source, although he had always believed that they would live full lives. The prospect that they might be able to live full, normal lives had never been more than a pipe dream, but now because of Xander he felt more and more certain of it.

The four sisters looked apprehensive about what was about to happen, not because they didn't have faith in Xander's abilities because they most certainly did, but because he was going up against a vampire that used to be part of a group so vicious that they had earned themselves the title 'The Scourge of Europe'. Cole may well be a demon, but he had proven himself to them as trustworthy, whereas Angel hadn't. Because of that, they were concerned that Angel may take advantage of the situation and try to cause harm to their friend. If he did that, he wouldn't live long enough to brag about it.

Cordelia, Gunn and Wesley were more worried for Xander, as while they had been told of his new status and had recently seen an example of his power, they had all seen Angel battle against almost impossible odds and emerge victorious. Gunn and Wesley both knew that Xander was not without ability, but they couldn't see him being on a par with a warrior of Angel's calibre.

Cordelia was a little less concerned for her ex boyfriend than the other two, as she had seen the expression that was currently on Xander's face before and knew that it meant that Xander was both prepared for what was about to happen and determined to be the victor, and Xander's willpower was by far his greatest weapon when wielded properly. She was more worried about their sparring session escalating into a full out battle, and that one or both of them would get injured or worse, which given their still unresolved issues wasn't an unfounded fear.

Willow, Tara and Giles were the most worried about the situation, but for different reasons. Willow, despite everything she had seen and heard, still couldn't see past who Xander used to be to see who Xander was now. She had been trying ever since Xander had told them he was going with Cole to San Francisco, and yet every time she thought that maybe she was making progress, something would happen and she would revert back to type.

What Willow had tried earlier today was a prime example. She shuddered as she thought about what might have been had Xander not withstood her initial attack, which was the only way she could describe her actions, an attack. While her spell had been meant to purge his body of foreign presences, her emotional control had been less than exemplary, downright lacking in fact, and because of it she had nearly killed her oldest friend. She now doubted that they would ever get back the closeness that they once had, but as long as he didn't cut her out of his life completely she would be happy.

Tara had heard about what Angel had done during his time in Sunnydale, both with and without a soul, and was worried that one of the few men she felt comfortable enough to be around to consider a friend would get hurt. She wasn't as blind to Xander's fighting abilities as the others seemed to be, and had actually been witness to him in battle against vampires before, so her worry was more emotionally driven than due to a lack of faith in him.

Xander would always act as 'rear guard' as he put it while they were on patrol, which meant that Buffy and the others often missed the times he had fought and staked a vampire that had tried to sneak up on them from behind. She would normally be at the rear of the group herself and had therefore seen how he had been able to quickly and efficiently despatch a vampire without the others even realising he had done anything.

Xander had made her feel accepted within the group in a way the others couldn't understand, because he treated her just like he did the others. He saw her as his friend, not Willow's girlfriend, and for that Tara could never thank him enough. She hoped that he still considered her a friend, which given the way he spoke to her before was a strong possibility. She still needed to apologise for going along with the others and not informing him of Dawn's true origins, and hoped that he would give her the opportunity to do just that.

Giles wasn't worried about Xander at all, at least not physically anyway. No, Giles' concern for his young charge was for his mental and emotional wellbeing. The young man had gone through a great deal the last few days, and with his uncharacteristic display earlier when he had removed his and Willow's ability to talk, Giles feared for Xander's state of mind.

If Xander's emotional state was as fragile as the former Watcher feared, then it wouldn't take much for him to snap; in fact all it would probably take was one lucky blow from Angel to land and Giles could see the boy going too far and ending the vampire's existence. While that particular scenario wasn't exactly displeasing to Giles given his own dislike for the vampire, he knew that it could signal the beginning of a downward spiral for Xander, one he feared his surrogate son might not survive unscathed.

Joyce was concerned for Xander like a mother would for a son, knowing the history the two soon to be combatants shared, but had complete confidence in him. She hadn't been witness to Xander in battle situations before, but she knew that he would never willingly put himself into a situation where he might get hurt or worse unless lives were on the line. Until Buffy was safe and sound, she knew without a shadow of a doubt that he would not risk himself unnecessarily, which meant that Xander must have an ulterior motive for what he was about to do, and she was secretly looking forward to seeing what it was.

Dawn too was confident that Xander would be fine, and was simply looking forward to seeing her man putting on a show. She'd never liked Angel, and had been completely unable to see what her sister had seen in him, especially in comparison to Xander, so she wasn't bothered about what would happened to him. She did know that if Angel hurt her man in any way, she'd get all of his blood blessed by a priest.

It didn't take Xander long to notice that that he and Angel had attracted an audience, and realised that this was the perfect opportunity to put everyone's doubts about how well he handle himself to rest, which was made all the sweeter as it meant he got to kick Angel's ass to do it.

He had begun to feel a little guilty concerning his actions earlier on in the day, especially with the way he had treated Giles and Willow, but the hurt and anger he felt concerning the way they had treated him first prevented him from saying anything. Xander had never believed that he could act so callously to people who, despite everything, he cared for, and yet he had done so without a second thought, and had not reversed the spell even after Joyce had taken him to task for it.

Xander could easily blame his actions on stress, but he had never been one to want to make excuses for his actions and he wasn't about to start now. He would apologise eventually, it wasn't in his nature to do otherwise, but that wouldn't happen until they had worked out their differences concerning everything else first.

Xander's thoughts turned to his soon to be opponent as he prepared himself for their match. He still didn't like Angel, and he doubted that he ever would, but Xander recognised the fact that the ensouled vampire did a lot of good work in LA, so he didn't want to cause him any permanent or serious damage that would infringe on that.

He did, however, want to get back at him for knocking him out Senior Year, when Angel had been pretending to be Angelus in order to get information out of Faith. Xander had been very lucky to have regained consciousness as quickly as he had, given that lying in the middle of the street, at night, on the Hellmouth, was not conducive to a man's health. It was yet another example of his friends withholding information from him 'for his own good' and it biting him in the ass, or the jaw to be specific. He might not have held such a grudge over the incident had Angel made some sort of apology, but neither he nor anyone else even seemed to care.

To that end, he intended to make an example out of Angel, and he would do so without using too many of his newfound abilities. He could easily defeat Angel with the powers he now possessed, a simple flame spell like the one he had downloaded into Paige's head would reduce his opponent into nothing more than a pile of ash, but Xander didn't want to become dependant on his new abilities, especially as they would be next to useless when facing the Source. He'd also seen what happens to people who become too dependent on their powers, and didn't want to become like that.

Using only his enhanced strength and speed would make things harder for him, and he would run the risk of injury, but Xander was still confident that he could best Angel, especially given the fact that the vampire was obviously feeling overconfident about what the outcome would be.

The two fighters began to circle each other, neither one wanting to be seen by their audience as the aggressor, before they both surged forward at the same moment and began trading blows.

A few minutes in, it became apparent to those that were watching that the pair were evenly matched, neither one able to get the upper hand over the other, all except for Cole and Leo, who saw something very different.

"He's holding back," Leo said to his unlikely friend and ally.

"Certainly seems that way," the half demon replied, "especially given that he fought far better against me when we fought. What I don't understand is why, apart from the obvious that is."

"He's waiting for Angel to go all out," Giles commented, surprising the two men as neither one had heard him move closer to them. "Angel believes that Xander is already going all out against him, and is currently waiting for Xander to tire. I believe he hopes to 'knock some sense' into him and make him see that he is not ready to go up against the Source."

"Don't take this the wrong way," Leo began, "but before now you haven't shown much confidence in Xander's abilities."

"You're right, I didn't," Giles agreed, the regret he felt over that almost a tangible thing that the men could see, "but these past couple of days I have begun to re-evaluate what I know about him and have come to the conclusion that there is little that Xander cannot do once he has put his mind to it."

"It looks like Angel has lost his patience and wants to end it now," Cole noted, causing the other two men to refocus on the fight before them.

Angel was indeed losing his patience. He knew that Xander had to be at the very limit of his ability, but he had not yet been able to significantly breech his defences. In fact Xander had somehow been getting in as many hits as Angel had, both showing small cuts and bruises, which the vampire found both surprising and annoying. He had believed going into this that he would easily overpower the boy and show him that he was not ready for what was to happen, but that had most definitely not been the case so far.

It had been that more than anything else that had eroded his patience and forced his hand, as he needed to prove that Xander wasn't ready for what was going to happen before the boy managed get in a lucky strike.

Morphing into his vampiric visage in the hope that it would distract him, Angel charged at Xander and knocked him down, going to kick him in the stomach as he fell. It wasn't normally the type of move he would use, kicking a man when he was down, but he had to show Xander that when it came to a life or death situation there were no rules.

Xander had been waiting for Angel's patience to run out, knowing from experience that it wouldn't take long, so when he went game face and knocked him down he was ready for him. Rolling through the fall, Xander managed to dodge the kick Angel had sent his way, a little surprised that he would follow up so quickly, but also pleased as it meant that he could fight dirty too. That's not to say that Xander wasn't going to fight dirty anyway, as he was, it just meant that the vampire couldn't now accuse him of cheating after the fact.

He allowed Angel to get in close and then head butted him, finding some small measure of satisfaction when he heard the vampire's nose break. Angel staggered back and reverted to his human face, feeling extra pain as his nose transformed back to normal, and didn't notice the fist coming his way until he was too late to block it. The pop of his jaw dislocating reverberated throughout the club, as did the crack of his right kneecap when Xander kicked it out, dropping the vampire down onto his injured knee.

Angel wasn't down for long, managing to stand up again despite the pain, only to feel a much greater pain when Xander kicked him full force between the legs, dropping the demon once more to the ground. This time, Xander followed it up with a kick to the head, which laid Angel out onto the floor, and then another to ensure that the vampire wasn't playing possum and was indeed unconscious.

Xander knew that he'd been lucky, as Angel was normally a more worthy opponent, but his underestimation of his abilities had made him over confident and that had been his downfall. Xander had learned almost from the moment he'd been thrust into this world that you should always treat every opponent as though they are the most dangerous individual that you've ever faced.

"Do you understand now Willow?" Xander asked his friend, who was looking at him slack jawed. "I'm more than capable of defending myself, and I do not follow any rules to do so."

"You didn't have to use your new abilities to prove your point Xander," his redheaded friend said finally, the shock of seeing her childhood friend take down Angel with relative ease wearing off slightly.

"I didn't," he replied, standing back from Angel as he heard him begin to come around, "all I used were the enhanced strength, speed and agility the monks gave me as a side effect to their spell, which depending on what timeline you use I've had either several years or several months. Everything I just did I'd been able to do well before I came to San Francisco."

"Why didn't you tell us about this before?" she asked, feeling betrayed in spite having no ground to stand on in that matter.

"Why should I have?" Xander asked in reply, his tone showing what he thought of her question. "To have you accept me? To be allowed to play in your sandpit? I wanted you to accept me for who I am, not what I can do, but you've proven time and time again that such a hope was foolish." His expression became blank, just like it had done when he told Buffy to go home. "Once I've dealt with the Source, and we've found a way to kill Glory, I don't want to hear from you unless it's a world-ending event."

"Xander, you don't really mean that do you?" Willow asked from the floor, her knees having given out when he'd closed off to her emotionally.

"Can you give me one good reason why I should have anything to do with you that is relevant to now and not five years ago?" Xander asked coldly in reply, keeping his emotions under control with ruthless efficiency.

"What do you mean?"

"I would say that it was about five years ago that your image of me froze, along with the reasons why we were friends. Can you give me one good reason why I would want anything to do with you based on who we are now?"

Xander had to wait for his answer when he felt rather than saw Angel charge at him, the vampire hoping to use Xander's distraction to his advantage, and now that he felt that he'd proven his point, Xander saw no need to limit what powers he used. With a wave of his hand, a wall of green flame erupted between himself and the vampire, and while Angel had seen that the flames had been harmless the last time he'd seen them, he knew better than to tempt fate and stopped in his tracks.

"I won't apologise for knocking you out Deadboy," Xander told him bluntly, "because you never apologised for knocking me out during your sting operation against Faith, but I do consider us even. Also, while I appreciate your… concern, I am more than aware of what I'm up against, far more than anyone else on the planet. One more thing, you ever come at me again with your game face showing and I will stake you, soul or not."

Xander turned back to Willow, leaving Angel surrounded by the flames for the time being, and saw that Tara was hugging her while she rocked back and forth with her arms wrapped around her legs. While outwardly he kept his emotionless expression in place, inwardly his heart lurched at the redhead's broken expression, and at the fact he no longer considered her his friend. It was a moment he never thought would happen, not while he had anything to do with it, which he no longer did.

He couldn't help but feel disappointed that she'd been unable to think of anything, despite that fact that he hadn't expected her to. For as long as he'd known her, Willow had never found a puzzle that or question that she couldn't solve or answer, and there had been a small part of him that had hoped it was still true.

It wasn't.

"Xander," Giles said tentatively, still wary since his last experience of Xander's new power, "I know that things between us seem untenable, and I freely admit that a lot of your anger is more than justified, you have gone through a gambit of trauma over the last few days, and to make decisions while still processing all that has happened might not be the best solution."

"In other words, you want me to wait until you've had a chance to convince me that I'm wrong."

"Certainly not," the older man denied vehemently, knowing that Xander was too smart for such an action to be successful, and feeling a sense of shame that he had considered it albeit briefly. "I am more than aware that you cannot be persuaded to do anything that you do not want to do, not that I would want to have to convince you. I would much prefer you to choose of your own free will to maintain contact with us. All I ask is that you withhold final judgement until after everything has been settled and you are able to take the time to come to a conclusion that isn't coloured by unresolved emotions."

Xander hated to admit it, but Giles had a point. While he doubted that his decision would be all that different no matter how long he waited, he knew that to make a decision while he wasn't firing on all cylinders would only lead him to have doubts after the fact. Of course, then there was Buffy…

"Alright, I'll hold off on any decisions, but that doesn't mean that I have to take any bullshit from you, Willow or anyone else for that matter. I have damn well earned your respect and will no longer tolerate anything less."

"I res…"

Tara, who wisely placed her hand over the redhead's mouth, cut off Willow's comment. She loved Willow dearly, but when it came to Xander it was as though she had a subconscious desire to incur his wrath.

"Agreed," she stated forcefully to Xander, surprising him.

"Thanks Tara," he replied warmly, thankful to her that she prevented Willow from saying anything further. She'd already dug a hole deep enough to reach the centre of the Earth, she didn't need to dig any deeper.

He knew that he should feel some animosity towards the auburn haired witch, as she had kept Dawn's origin from him, but he didn't. He knew Tara, and while he felt a little disappointment that she hadn't come to him, he knew that she had been in a difficult situation where no matter what she did she would be wrong. It wasn't up to her to tell him anyway, it had been up to Buffy, Giles and Willow.

He had garnered some measure of closure with Buffy during his second bout of prolonged unconsciousness, although he was holding out judgement until he saw her in the flesh and she proved that it had indeed been her, but he still needed to do the same with the other two. He doubted that he would ever get complete closure with Willow, as she didn't seem capable of seeing things the way they truly are, but he had seen signs in Giles recently that he might with him.

All of that, however, had to be put onto the back burner for the time being, as rescuing Buffy and destroying The Source were the more pressing concerns at the moment.

"Okay," he began, drawing everyone's attention to him, "I suggest we get back to preparing for tonight, especially if we want to see tomorrow." He turned to Angel, who had finally calmed himself down, and willed the flames away. "Want to try sparring again, only this time purely for training purposes?"

"Fine," the vampire replied, "but I doubt I'll be up to much for a while."

Xander noted that Angel was still injured and felt a momentary flash of guilt for inflicting it, before squashing the feeling. No matter what good he might do, Angel was first and foremost a demon and he would never allow himself to feel bad about whatever pain or injuries he might inflict on one. He didn't feel that way with Cole, as he is as human as he is demonic, not to mention that he chose to fight evil of his own free will, as opposed to Angel who only began to do so after prodding from another demon call Whistler.

Despite his feelings, Xander did need Angel at his best tonight, so he decided to see if he could rectify that.

"This might hurt," he told the ensouled demon as he willed a ball of green energy to his hand and tossed it towards him.

Angel considered moving out of the way when he saw the ball travel towards him, but he knew that Xander wouldn't kill him until after Buffy was safe and trusted that it wasn't something that would cause him further injury. As it came in contact with his body, the ball increased in size until Angel was encased within a green glow, before the glow seemed to seep into his body. Angel felt extreme discomfort at the sensation, but not outright pain, and was able to remain silent until the process ended, leaving him feeling as healthy as an animated corpse could feel.

"My word," Wesley breathed, "you have the power to heal?"

"Firstly," Xander replied, "it isn't that special, as Leo can also heal. Secondly, I didn't actually heal him, at least not in the convention use of the word. I simply infused his body with energy similar to the one his demon uses to keep the corpse from rotting, essentially giving it a booster shot to push his own healing factor into overdrive."

"Fascinating."

"If you say so," Xander allowed, not finding it all that wonderful himself, "but I would prefer to use it the way it was intended."

"Which is?" Angel asked, having a sneaking suspicion what it might be and shivering unnecessarily at the thought.

"Using it at its full power and seeing the demon literally torn apart trying to absorb the power into themselves."

"That's abhorrent," Willow stated with disgust.

"So are demons, so it works out nicely." Xander was quickly tiring of the conversation, which he deemed to be nothing but a waste of time, and decided to bring everyone back on track. "Okay, lets try this training thing again shall we?"

**Hyde Street Harbour,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Glory walked off the yacht wiping the blood of the last of the crew from her hands, happy to be finally on dry land. Had she know how many people it took to sail a yacht, Glory wouldn't have killed so many of them so soon, but their annoying mortality grated on her nerves and only their screams of pain had been able to mollify her. However, because of her cull of the herd, it had taken longer than she had wanted to return to shore, and she'd taken it out on the remaining survivors and things had gotten a little… messy.

There was something that had begun to ease her anger; her Key was close by.

When Glory had discovered those pesky monks plans to hide her Key from her, she had been enraged to discover that they had sent it to the California Hellmouth. Being the most active Hellmouth on Earth, it had been able to mask her Key's signature, not to mention that pesky Slayer and her little cohorts. Not that Glory was concerned about whatever pitiful attempts they would make to stop her from returning home, but she was growing tiresome of having to kill the vermin that lived on this planet to get what she wants when they should be bowing and scraping at her feet and presenting her Key on a silver platter.

Starting to feel that her time on this hunk of rock would soon be over, she began to focus on the energy of her Key, looking forward to returning to her domain where she was treated the way she was born to be treated; like a god.


	27. Chapter Twenty Seven

_**Chapter Twenty-Seven**_

**P3,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

The combined group were as prepared as they could be, and now all they wanted to do was get going. They knew that every minute closer to midnight was one minute less that Buffy had to live, which made them all tense and nervous, whilst at the same time they all tried to remain upbeat and confident in the presence of her mom and sister.

The only one who seemed to truly remain calm was Xander, who was sitting in the far corner of the club with his hands behind his back, looking for all the world like someone who was just passing the time, nothing like someone who was soon to be in a fight to the death. That was only his outward appearance however; on the inside he was nowhere near as calm. He knew that the stakes were high, maybe higher than he'd ever knowingly faced, and he also knew that if he allowed himself to crack, even a little bit, he'd never recover in time.

Xander had learnt over the years that he had a fiery temper, but unlike his father who could never control himself when he became angered, he could focus his rage into a tight ball and store it away, where it would be ready and waiting to be released at just the right moment. He would later use his anger as a catalyst, enabling him to do things he would have otherwise been unable, or unwilling, to do, and Xander knew that he would need every ounce of that rage to prevail tonight.

Ensuring Buffy's safety was of course Xander's number one priority, and the main focus for this mission, but there was also The Source to consider. He was after all 'The One Who Sees', and for him to pass up a chance to fulfil the prophecy his antecedents had failed to do would be foolhardy in the extreme.

For whatever reason, maybe by design or maybe because that was just how Xander's luck worked, it seemed like The Source was the only being that he had little to no information on, which he guessed might be an offshoot to their nullifying each other's powers. It was a little disconcerting that the one being he'd been 'destined' to fight to the death was the only being he had no way to prepare for, but if he did know every weakness of The Source, he wouldn't have been necessary, as one of his predecessors would have, or at least should have, destroyed him.

The Source was powerful beyond almost any other demon, which was pretty much a given Xander supposed, as otherwise he wouldn't have been in power as long as he had, but it seemed that these days he ruled through fear as much by displays of power, no one willing to outright challenge him and anyone who did met a grisly end before they could cement their plans. Despite all that, there was no evidence that he had any clue how to fight a physical battle, but Xander surmised it was only because The Source had never allowed any battle go that far, or for any challenger to get that close.

The Source was an unknown factor in all this and if there was one thing Xander didn't like it was going into things blind. That wasn't to say he hadn't done so, as he had repeatedly, he just didn't like it when it happened.

Xander's watched beeped to indicate the start of a new hour and brought him out of his reflective mood. It was now eleven, only an hour before his meeting with The Source, and finally time for them to make their move.

"Okay people," he said quietly, although his voice still managed to reach everyone in the room, "it's game time. Remember, once you've played your part you get out as quickly and as safely as you can. We'll all meet back here at daybreak, and I mean we'll all meet her at daybreak. If any of you die I swear I'll find some way to bring you back just so I can kick your ass."

"Yes mother," Prue sighed, feeling like Xander was overdoing it a little, although she didn't react as strongly as she might normally do given how much stress he was currently under.

"There is something you haven't explained yet," Wesley said as he looked over at Xander, "which is just how you're going to get into The Source's lair."

"I knew I forgot something," he sighed theatrically, slapping his forehead.

"Come on Doofus, don't leave us in suspense," Cordelia snapped, "tell us already."

"Instead of telling you, how about I show you?" he replied as the now familiar green flames began to surround his body.

Unlike previous time however, the flames continued to grow, until they could no longer see Xander within them. Then, in a flash of green light, Xander was gone.

"Oh for pity's sake," Cordelia sighed exasperated, "how am I supposed to nag him now when he can do that?"

"Quickly?" Gunn replied tongue in cheek, dodging out of the way as she went to strike him. "Speaking of quickly," he continued, his tone more serious, "we better get going unless we'll miss out on all the fun."

While they might not have agreed with his use of the word 'fun', the others all nodded in agreement with the young hunter and headed off, leaving Cordelia, Leo, Joyce and Dawn behind.

**Demon Underground.**

Xander appeared at the mouth of the cave entrance to the demon underground, a small layer of flames remaining around his body to act like a light as he made his way inside. Xander could have teleported right into The Source's lair if he so wished, just as he had been able to teleport into the Elders Realm earlier to collect Dawn, but there was no way for him to mask his presence when doing so, and remaining incognito was as paramount now as it was before.

Xander knew that leaving the others behind wasn't exactly the smartest thing to do, nor was hiding that particular ability from them, and he was well aware that after this was out of the way he'd get an earful from Cordelia at the very least, but Xander also knew that once Piper and the others arrived it would be like the equivalent to erecting a big neon sign saying 'We're Here', and the demon population would be all over them like flies on shit and the element of surprise would have been lost.

Also, if he had arrived with the others, Xander would have had to fight his way through an army of demons to get at The Source, which while fun sounding would have wasted precious time Buffy didn't have, whereas now he could slip in and wait for the fireworks to start.

Xander began to make his way through the seemingly endless cave network, being careful not to be seen by anyone or anything, and if he were seen killing them before they could raise the alarm. He could not and would not make his move until he knew Buffy was no longer in The Source's hands, for to do so would put her in extreme danger, and force him to choose between ridding the world of The Source or saving her life. In all honesty he already knew what he would do if he were placed in that situation, but he would rather not have to make the choice if at all possible.

Finally finding the best position to lie in wait, having needed to take the extremely long way round to ensure he wasn't spotted, he waited for the others to make their presence known.

* * *

Cole and the others arrived not long after Xander, himself and Paige providing the transportation, and the group split up and went their separate ways. Gunn, Willow and Tara looked apprehensive as they watched their friends, old and new, go into the cave, knowing that they would only be needed if things didn't go well.

Willow was worried the most, as she was still extremely limited with what she could do magically, in fact she was almost as powerless as she was back in her high school years, when being able to float a pencil had been a big thing for her.

During a discussion Willow had with those within their group who had magical knowledge, she'd come to the conclusion that she did indeed tap into the Hellmouth for power. While on the one hand that meant that she had a nearly unlimited well of power at her command, it also meant that with each time she did so, she had become increasingly affected by the Hellmouth's corrupting influence, heightening both her feeling of superiority and the notion that she knew what was right for herself and others as well as lowering her inhibitions.

While she couldn't say that she was back to her old self, Willow had found that her prolonged absence away from the source of most of her power meant that she could look back at some of the things she'd said and done in a different light, and realised that she didn't much like the person she'd become over the last couple of years.

Her increased tendency to believe that everything could be solved with a spell; her feelings towards those she considered weak, meaning without special abilities; her feelings that she always knew what she was doing and that people should listen to what she had to say and agree with her, were all things that made her feel disconcerted, not to mention reluctant to return to Sunnydale.

Willow knew that it wasn't so much her proximity to the Hellmouth that was the problem, but her growing dependency on magic that had caused the majority of her problems. She had originally begun devoting her efforts to magic when she noticed how Buffy wanted to prevent those without some sort of supernatural ability from helping her, her insecurities about no longer being needed overriding her need to be careful.

That wasn't to say that she blamed Buffy for what happened, as she didn't because her parents had talked psychology enough around her for her to recognise transference when she saw it. No, that honour was all hers, but she couldn't deny that her fear of being ejected from the group was certainly a factor.

Willow had always known that she had a tendency to focus more on knowledge than on how to properly apply that knowledge, and had therefore always tried to temper her natural curiosity until she felt she had a good grasp of what she had already learnt. It was something she had started doing from the time she was seven and had received her first chemistry set; she had almost set her bedroom on fire when she mixed the wrong chemicals together.

She could see that as she grew more determined to be useful, she had ignored the little voice at the back of her mind that warned her she was going too far too fast. By the time she went to college and met Tara, the voice didn't even exist anymore. She'd hidden a lot of her dabbling from her girlfriend, knowing that she would not approve, and would most probably leave her, but even then their relationship had been a little strained as of late as she had begun to take her for granted more and more.

Now, because of her distance from Sunnydale, she still had a vast amount of knowledge on the subject, but only had enough power to perform maybe 10 of the spells she knew. She could feel the desire to regain her power, but with her rational mind now starting to return to normal, she knew that if she did she might lose herself forever.

That posed her a problem, as Sunnydale was her home and the place where all her friends and family resided. To go back would mean losing herself to the power, but by staying away she would lose everything that meant something to her. That would be a problem she would face later, after Buffy was rescued and Dawn was safe from Glory.

Getting back to the situation at hand, while she was no longer the powerhouse she used to be magically, the sheer volume of knowledge Willow had on the mystical arts meant that she could use every ounce of power she had to it's full potential. Illusionary magic was one of the least draining branches of magic, and she knew a great many spells that would come in handy to ensure that when the others emerged from the cave, they should be able to depart without having to worry too much about anything trying to catch them.

Then there was Tara; her wonderful, beautiful Tara. She had a well of power that Willow had never even noticed, a well of power that was completely hers and not augmented by outside sources. While Willow was a practitioner, Tara was a Witch, a naturally gifted Witch just like the Charmed Ones.

Tara wasn't as knowledgeable as Willow, but then she never wanted to be; she knew what she needed to know, and was happy to learn more should the need to, but was content with what she could already do. It was one of the things that drew Willow to her, Tara's contentment with who she was. She may well be shy, but she was happy with both who and what she is, someone who was truly comfortable within their own skin, and Willow loved her more than she ever thought possible.

Another topic that had been under discussion had been what they might need to do if things didn't go to plan, and they had devised a way to combine Willow's fountain of magical knowledge with Tara's impressive well of power, so that between them they had another heavy hitter available if needed.

To prove her changing attitude, Willow had insisted that the link should only be one way, from her to Tara, ensuring that she didn't get the mystical equivalent of a fix. She had seen the slight softening of expression from the Halliwell sisters as she had said that, who before then had only tolerated her because they had to. No one from the San Francisco group liked her much because of the way she treated Xander, and now that her head was clear she didn't blame any of them one iota.

A hand on her shoulder brought Willow out of her thoughts and she turned to see Tara looking at her slightly in concern. "Are you alright sweetie?" she asked.

Willow squeezed her hand slightly and smiled, but Tara could see that it was tinged with sadness. "No, not really," she replied softly, "but I will be."

"Don't take this the wrong way," Gunn said, drawing the two ladies attention, "but do you think you could leave your Ricki Lake moment until after we've left Demon Central?"

They both glared at him momentarily until they nodded reluctantly, realising that it really wasn't the time to get into anything. However, they would remember the Ricki Lake comment and ensure that Gunn was properly… reprimanded for it later.

* * *

Giles, Wesley and the Charmed Ones made their way into the main congregation area of the demon underworld, finding over one hundred of them inside waiting for them. They hadn't been very stealthy making their way inside, and Cole's mention of how they emitted the magical equivalent of a beacon made sure that their arrival had been announced.

That was exactly how they wanted it.

When Xander had initially gone over the plan with them all, the sisters had been reticent to make such a proactive move towards the demonic community as a whole. While their lives had been turned upside down since they discovered their magical heritage, they had still wanted for the most part to live as normal a life as possible. To do that meant that they only dealt with the supernatural world when they had to, and that was mainly in retaliation for something a demon had done.

Xander had then explained, in that charmingly blunt way of his, that to go on they way they had been was pretty much going to guarantee that they didn't get to live a long life. He went on to say that waiting for each attempt on their lives and only then doing something about it was greatly increasing the chances that one of those attempts might actually succeed. If they go in and make a big enough dent in the demon population, not only will they be saving the lives of the innocents the demon's would have preyed on, but they would also be sending a message that they were not a group to be messed with.

He had convinced them almost before he had begun speaking, because they went back in their minds and remembered what he'd told them a couple of days ago about how lucky they had been that only their home had been demolished and not one of them. They then had thought back to every time their lives had been at risk and how often they had only survived with the barest of margins. They knew that they couldn't go on the way they had been, and coupled that it could very well lead to the destruction of The Source, they would have been foolish in the extreme to have not gone along with it.

After the shock of actually seeing the Charmed Ones in their world, one of the more senior demons stepped forward and snarled at the group, although made no move to strike them.

"How dare you come here and taint our domain with your filth?" he asked them disgustedly.

His question was answered by Giles, who had until now been completely ignored as unimportant. That had been a mistake, as it meant they had neglected to notice when he had moved forward took his head clean off with his rapier. The demon's head only had enough time to look shocked before it dissolved into a cloud of ash, the body following a moment later, Giles twirling his sword in a vicious arc before resting it at his side once more.

"Does anyone else have any inane questions they'd like to ask," Giles said to the shocked group of demons with a dangerous glint in his eye and his natural burr showing through, "or can we get down to business?"

Giles' question was answered when the remaining demons began to converge on them.

Prue used her power to drive as many of the demons back as she could while deflecting as many projectiles they threw at them as possible, releasing any and all blocks on her ability. Even in a life and death situation, Prue would always hold back a little on the power, worried about what might happen if an innocent were to get in the way. Now though there was no need to worry, as there were no innocents around, not to mention that with the amount of demons after them any holding back could cost herself or worse her sisters lives.

Piper too was holding nothing back, using her powers to freeze as many demons as possible, stemming the flow towards them while Giles and Wesley showed just how deadly they could be, cutting a swathe through the horde that faced them, mindful not to stray too far from the three sisters. She also used her power to stop whatever the demons threw their way, although like her sister with so many of them she had trouble stopping them all.

Phoebe was also holding her own, combining her athletic prowess with her ability to levitate to move agilely around the demons, striking with deadly efficiency with her own lightweight sword given to her as a present from Cole. She had always felt a little jealous of her sisters having more active powers than her, at least until Cole had started teaching her self defence. She had always been athletic in nature, so she had taken to the training well, and once her levitating ability appeared she had been practising using it to further enhance her agility, but that was the first time she had been able to fully test herself.

The quintet were significantly lowering the number of demons baying for their blood, but they knew that their luck would not hold out much longer. Their distraction was working like a charm, no pun intended, but they all knew that if the others didn't achieve their parts of the plan soon, their luck would run out and then their situation would become a lot more serious.

* * *

While the others were causing a distraction, Cole, Angel and Paige were making their way through the cavern system in search of Buffy. Between Cole's knowledge of how The Source worked, knowing that he wouldn't let Buffy too far out of his sight, and a low level scrying spell that would give a general direction of where Buffy might be, they had a fair idea where she was, it was the getting there that was difficult.

To ensure that they wouldn't be discovered, they were all under a masking spell, but would only remain effective as long as neither Cole nor Paige used their powers. With Paige having no self-defence training, and Cole's first instinct was to blow anyone that got in their way up, the job of dealing with any demons that might discover them fell to Angel, who was quite happy to vent his anger out on any unsuspecting fool that dared get in his way.

He was still smarting from how easily Xander had taken him down during their sparring session, although he had to admit that a big part of that had been his own arrogance, and as he couldn't repay the favour to the young man, anyone would do.

As the scrying spell indicated that they were extremely close to finding Buffy, Angel sensed the presence of Spike nearby. Knowing that his grandchilde would also feel him, Angel knew he would have to deal with him once and for all or otherwise the bleach blonde vampire might inform The Source and ruin their plans.

"I need to go," Angel said to his two companions, seeing them both look at him incredulously.

"Couldn't you have gone before we left?" Cole asked, only half joking as he wondered what the vampire was up to. While he would give him the benefit of the doubt, mainly due to the comparisons in their lives, Cole wasn't naïve enough to believe any demon at face value.

"Spike is near by, I can feel him. As that goes both ways, I have to head him off before he goes and tells anyone I'm here," he explained before his expression darkened, "I also need to have a few words with him about the proper way to treat a lady."

"Fine," Cole said, deciding to give the vampire the benefit of the doubt, "but don't get killed, because I know Xander wouldn't want that to happen without being there to witness it."

Angel almost smiled at that, but managed to school his expression enough to remain passive as he nodded once and took off in search of Spike.

Cole and Paige continued on their way and quickly found where the captive Slayer was being held, bound and gagged in the far corner of a small cavern not too far away from The Source's lair and guarded by three demons. Knowing that they had little time remaining, Cole took the risk of using his powers, hoping that with the battle going on nearby that there would no way to detect his power signature amidst them.

Quickly shimmering into the cavern, he fired two energy ball, each one hitting a guard dead centre, incinerating them before they could even react. The third went to fire at Cole, but he moved too quickly, once again shimmering but this time appearing behind the third guard and snapping his neck with a violent twist. Three guards taken out in less than five seconds, all without a making a single sound.

Cole indicated to Paige that was safe to come in and then the pair moved closer to Buffy, Cole taking the lead so the Slayer would see a friendly face.

Bending down on one knee, Cole gently shook Buffy's shoulder. "Buffy? Buffy, it's Cole."

It took a few moments, but the young woman began to rouse from her slumber, and turned to look groggily at the half demon. Even without being able to speak, she conveyed her happiness and relief at seeing a friendly face, and once he saw her recognition of him, Cole quickly went about removing the gag and bonds, wincing at the sight of her bloody wrists where the rope had been cutting into her.

"Thanks," Buffy said sincerely as she gingerly got to her feet, the first time she had been able to since she'd been kidnapped. She turned to Paige and looked inquisitively at her, "I know I haven't met you before but for some reason you look familiar."

"Introduction can be made later," Cole said, knowing that time was a precious commodity right now, "the first thing we need to do is get you back to 100"

"That'll take a while with the cocktail of drugs in my system to suppress my Slayer abilities," Buffy commented, "unless Leo is here of course."

"No, but we do have the next best thing," Cole replied, indicating Paige.

Paige took that as her cue and stepped forward slowly, remembering what Xander told her about Buffy's propensity to hit first and ask questions later if people got too close to her without permission. She knew that it wasn't necessarily a bad thing given what she did at night, but it did make her seem standoffish to those she didn't know her. Once she got close enough, Paige gently laid her hands on Buffy's shoulders and closed her eyes, concentrating on her healing ability.

Paige had used it a couple of times during training, but that had been on wounds that she knew were superficial at best, whereas now she had no idea how extensive Buffy's injuries were. Also, Leo had told her that while she would be able to use her Whitelighter abilities underworld due to her unique status, they would be muted and she would need to put more effort into healing her fully.

A soft white glow appeared where her hands were in contact with Buffy's body and steadily grew until her entire body was encased within. A few moments later, the glow receded and Paige stepped back, feeling a little tired but pleased with the result.

Buffy took a deep cleansing breath, feeling better than she had in quite some time. As she stretched for the first time in a couple of days, she could also feel that the drugs that had been in her system had been purged, leaving her at full Slayer capacity. A gleam appeared in her eyes as she realised that meant that she would be able to get a little retribution before she left.

Cole had been observing Buffy closely and had quickly noticed the look in her eye that Xander had warned them about. He'd explained that Buffy wouldn't want to just leave; instead she would be intent on venting her anger and frustration in spite of the danger present. Knowing that the best time to do anything about it was now, he caught Paige's attention and nodded, who quickly got the message and once again placed her hands on Buffy's shoulders, this time orbing them topside.

At this point, Cole was to shimmer out with Angel, but with the souled vampire going after Spike, he decided to ignore his own advice and stay behind. Anyway, he wanted to be around to witness the end of The Source, and decided to make his way to his lair, but not before breaking the crystal around his neck to signal Phoebe and the others that Buffy was safe.

* * *

Phoebe felt it the moment Cole broke the crystal, and knew that they'd been successful in rescuing Buffy. That meant that they could now cut their losses and get the hell out of there.

All five of them had been injured in some way, although not too seriously thankfully, but knew that things would have got a whole lot worse if they'd had to stay much longer.

"We've got what we came for guys," she shouted as she somersaulted over a demon, striking with her sword as she passed and splitting the demon's head in two, "it's time to leave!"

"Bloody hell," Wesley sighed as he gutted another demon who was foolhardy enough to get within striking distance, "I was just getting my second wind."

"Now, now Wesley," Giles mock chided as he rammed his elbow into the back of a demons head, "there's no need for such language in the presence of a lady."

"When we see one we'll let you know," another demon sneered as he tried to blindside Phoebe, the youngest Charmed One only just managing to move out of the way.

The demon never had a chance to make a second grab for her, as Prue used her power to send him flying into several other demons before impacting with a sickening crunch on the far wall.

"Giles! Wesley! Do that voodoo that you do so well!" Piper called out as she and her two sister moved towards the two men.

The former Watchers sighed slightly at the reference before standing side by side and crossing their swords whilst repeating a small mantra. Their swords began to glow, as though their swords were heating up, the glow becoming brighter and brighter until it was painful to look at them directly.

When even closing your eyes did nothing to diminish the sheer brilliance of the light the swords were emitting, the two men slammed their swords into the ground, the light becoming blinding for a moment before dissipating completely. The force from the flash sent the remaining demons scattering away, and it took almost a minute before they could tell that the five were no longer in the cavern with them.

With the losses they had taken, those demons that remained knew that The Source would skin them all alive if they reported that they let the humans escape, and shimmered topside in hot pursuit.

* * *

The sounds of battle could be heard from his lair, but The Source had no intention of leaving his onyx throne to assist those under his rule. He hadn't remained in charge as long as he had by willingly putting himself in the line of fire, and he wasn't about to start now. He also knew that there was a chance that young Alexander was behind the current situation, hoping that it would distract him long enough to allow the young man to rescue his friend Elizabeth.

He'd had a feeling that Alexander would try something like this, which was why he had left Elizabeth in a nearby caver under guard by three of him most loyal lieutenants, all wanting to fill the vacancy left by Pretorius' demise. He would remind the young man that if he didn't give himself up, he would have his friend killed, but not before his lieutenants used her to release some pent up frustration.

A sudden beeping drew The Source's attention towards the entrance to his lair, and he saw Alexander walk in. The young man brought his wrist up and turned off the beeping coming from his watch before he turned his attention to The Source.

"If there's one thing you can say about me," he said with a jaunty tone, "it's that I'm punctual."

The Source stood up from his throne and smiled a shark's smile. "Well, Alexander, we meet at last."

Xander rolled his eyes as he drew closer, his eyes flicking all around the room. "Do you try to sound clichéd or does it happen naturally?" he asked.

"Now, now," The Source chided, "there's no need to be rude."

"You sent a Hell Goddess after me, sent assassins to kill me and in the process my friends, you kidnap Buffy, you had my parents killed, and you killed Anya," Xander said, ticking off each one on his fingers. "I have never wanted to kill anyone as much or as painfully as I do you, so my being rude is the least of your problems," Xander growled, doing his best to reign in his temper. He knew that he had to remain in control of his emotions to stay alive, but was finding it increasingly difficult to do so in the presence of the one who had made his life a misery.

"You harm a single hair on my head and your precious Elizabeth goes the same way as your parents and my dear, sweet, Anyanka," The Source replied seriously, all previous hints of humour gone. "It seems that you really have two options; fight me and seal your friends fate, or surrender yourself to me and die."

Xander made a point of looking thoughtful for several moments before replying. "I'm thinking of taking option three; you release Buffy and I kill you quick and clean. If I'm feeling really nice I might not even make it hurt."

"I know how people like you think Alexander," The Source told him with a superior air about him, "you wouldn't risk your friends life over your own. Give in and I give you my word that Elizabeth will be set free."

Xander snorted. "You're right that my loyalty to my friends is strong," he conceded, "but I've learned the hard way that there are things far more important than friendship and destroying you is right up there among them."

The Source's flashed momentarily and he began shaking with rage that his plan was failing. "You have made your choice, your friends blood is on your hands Alexander." He turned towards the other archway and called out. "Kill her!" He became frustrated when he heard no noise of any kind. "I said kill her!" he roared.

Cole emerged from the archway with a smirk plastered onto his face. "I'm sorry," he apologised with absolutely no sign of meaning it, "your regularly scheduled execution has been delayed, due to a technical fault with your lackeys. Regular service will not resume shortly, or ever in fact."

The Source's lips drew back, showing his malformed and discoloured teeth. "Belthazor! How dare you show your traitorous face!" he hissed.

"Firstly," Cole snapped, "I dare because I just had to bear witness to your final minutes on this plain of existence. Secondly, the name's not Belthazor, it's Cole!" he roared.

Xander cleared his throat and The Source turned back to face him, his growing anger visible on his features. "Looks like it's just you and me now Mal. You don't mind if I call you Mal, do you Mal?" he asked with a smirk, Xander's tone indicating that he truly didn't care whether he did or not.

"I'm going to rip you limb from limb!" The Source roared as he began stalking towards Xander.

Xander smiled a Hyena like grin as he went to meet The Source half way. "Better men than you have tried Mally boy," he said while cracking his knuckles. "Cole, you better get out of here, I don't want to give Frankie Muniz any advantage."

Xander watched as Cole reluctantly nodded and left the way he came, deciding to find a few demons and vent his frustration at being unable to witness The Source's demise.

Xander and The Source looked at each other for a moment before deciding to get things started, leaping towards one another.

**P3,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Joyce and Leo watched in amusement as Cordelia and Dawn danced around to the music wafting through the club, the youngest Summers girl making the most of being in a club even if it wasn't under the best of circumstances.

Cordelia wouldn't normally be seen dancing around as wildly as she was, but she knew that Dawn needed to let go a little and after the tension of the last few months she need to let go a little too. Even so, she would have been acting more refined if there were more people around, but she knew Joyce wouldn't breathe a word and if she couldn't trust a bona fide angel who could she trust?

"I don't think I ever had that much energy when I was their age," Joyce commented to Leo as they continued watching the two young women prancing around.

"Oh I highly doubt that Joyce," Leo said with a small teasing smile, "you just don't want to admit it. When I was their age I remember dancing just as vigorously, although maybe not as wildly, and that was long before you were born."

"I stand by my statement," she stated firmly, although with a smile on her face.

They heard the door to the club open and someone begin to come down the stairs, probably a member of staff or an early customer that didn't read the closed sign out front.

"I'm sorry but we're closed," Leo called out, walking out from behind the bar to head whoever it was off at the bottom of the stairs.

There was a sudden blur and Leo found himself flying across the club, hitting the far wall with a sickening thud that cracked the brickwork.

"Oh I don't have to worry about anything being closed anymore," Glory said with a vicious smile as she watched the pool of blood appear from under the Whitelighter's lifeless body before turning her gaze to Dawn. "Not now that I've found my Key."

Both Cordelia and Joyce stood on front of Dawn, knowing that they had no chance of stopping the Hell goddess, but neither wanting to just let her take Dawn without putting up a fight.

"There is no way you are taking my daughter," Joyce stated forcefully, valiantly trying to keep the fear out of her voice.

"Oh isn't there?" Glory said in feigned surprise. "Well in that case I better just leave then."

She turned and for one fleeting moment the two women thought that she was indeed leaving, but then Glory suddenly span round and knocked the two women flying to opposite side of the club, leaving Dawn the only one still standing.

"Leave my mother alone!" Dawn screamed.

Her anger over seeing her mother hurt overpowering her sense of fear in the presence of Gory, and she launched herself forward and began striking the Hell Goddess again and again.

Glory looked down at her Key, not even feeling the blows her ticket home threw at her. "I have no need to harm her or any other hairless monkey on this mudball any longer," she told her, "but if you do not come with me willingly and without fuss I will destroy every snivelling creature I see, beginning with your dear, sweet, 'mother'."

Dawn stopped her futile attempt at harming Glory and looked up to see her smiling so evilly that it felt wrong to even consider it a smile. She felt it at the very bottom of her heart that Glory would kill her mom, Cordelia, and anyone else she felt like it if Dawn didn't do as she was told and not even bat an eye.

Knowing that she had no other choice, Dawn nodded her head in submission and allowed herself to be dragged out of the club, only able to take one more fleeting glance at her mom before ascending the stairs.

**The Source's Lair,  
Demon Underground.**

Both Xander and The Source were breathing heavily and bleeding from several different locations. Xander had found out quickly that The Source was no slouch in the fighting department, and was glad that he hadn't gone in thinking that he had any advantage over his opponent. Both had tried on more than one occasion to use their power on the other, only to find that they were as useless as the legend stated. It showed the intelligence of both to never trust any information unless corroborated.

Xander knew that they were evenly matched and the loser would be the first to make a mistake for the other to exploit. He knew that if they could just use their powers against each other he would have the edge, but they couldn't so there was no point in…

Xander's eyes widened slightly as he realised just how monumentally stupid he had been and caught The Source with a savage uppercut that sent him soaring through the air to the opposite side of the cavern. Concentrating as hard as he could, Xander began to chant softly but quickly, the words reverberating around the cavern as though they had a will of their own. The air began to ripple and the walls began to shake.

The Source looked around, trying to discover what Alexander was attempting to accomplish, but decided to instead use his perceived distraction to his advantage. He moved forward quickly but before he could get close enough to strike a piece of the wall came free and impacted against him forcefully, spinning him round. He managed to maintain his balance, only to be struck again by another piece of rubble. The Source fired at the rubble, but for every one he destroys two take its place.

Over and over again he is hit by the flying rubble, bones breaking under the onslaught until he is down on his knees, desperately firing at them again and again, missing as many times as he hits, causing more and more of the cavern to crumble, until one piece slams into the back of his head, knocking him out cold.

Xander ceased his chanting and allowed the rubble to fall to the ground, before he too went down on one knee feeling completely exhausted. The spell had taken a lot out of him, even though it was a relatively simple spell to cast. Even though he had full knowledge of how to use his magical abilities, it was the first time he had cast a spell of any type and he simply hadn't built up the stamina to hold it as long as he had. Why he hadn't realised before that just because he couldn't use his abilities on The Source didn't mean he couldn't use them on other things he had no idea, but he was glad that he had, as he honestly didn't know how long he would have been able to keep going without tiring and making a mistake.

Knowing that he didn't have time to rest, he went over to the prone form of The Source, only to see him beginning to regain consciousness. The Source slowly, painfully rose up so that he was knelt before Xander, knowing that his time was at and end.

"I cannot fight you anymore Alexander," he wheezed, coughing up blood with every excruciating breath that he took, "you have defeated me. I am now kneeling defenceless before you. You wouldn't kill me in cold blood would you?" he asked, knowing what the answer would be but desperately grasping at straws to remain alive.

"If I let you live," Xander replied coldly, "you'll only go after me or my friends again, maybe even killing some of them. You said you know all about me, so you should know that I would do anything to keep my friends safe."

Xander knelt down and snapped The Source's neck before he could make another move or sound, watching dispassionately as his body slumped lifelessly to the ground. As the last vestiges of life left The Source's body, a deep orange glow began to seep out of him, which soon completely surrounded and consumed the body before it began moving towards Xander.

Xander tried to back away from the glow but before he had a chance to go far, the glow suddenly surged towards him and Xander became engulfed by it.

"The legend was inaccurate Alexander," a deep resonating voice said, seemingly coming from all around him and almost overpowering his senses, "the power of the Source can never be destroyed, but its purpose can be changed. The power of The Source is now yours to command as you see fit. A word to the wise," the voice cautioned, "the phrase 'power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely' has basis in truth, but only if you allow it to be so."

The glow faded and left Xander on his knees, sweat pouring off of him as his body became accustomed to the new power coursing through him. When he opened his eyes, they changed from his normal chocolate brown to the glowing green he'd become accustomed to, changing once again to deep obsidian black with red and orange flames for irises. After a moment, Xander's eyes returned to his natural colour and he found that he was able to stand once more.

"Well," he said to himself, "that was bracing."

Xander didn't have a chance to say anything more as the entire cave network he was in started shaking violently, the damage caused to it from his spell weakening it dangerously. He barely had time to look up before the cavern finally collapsed, burying him under tonnes of rubble.


	28. Chapter Twenty Eight

_**Chapter Twenty-Eight**_

**Demon Underground.**

Angel had tracked Spike down less than a minute after leaving Cole and Paige behind, although that was mainly because once the other vampire had sensed his grandsire's presence, he had begun to do the same thing.

It seemed that Spike had no intention of letting The Source in on what was happening, having guessed that he wouldn't hold up his side of the bargain and remove the chip, and instead figured that he would take out his frustration over having yet another chance to become a proper vampire once again slip through his fingers by beating up someone, or in this case something, that wouldn't cause debilitating pain from the attempt.

The two vampires traded barbs for a while, feeling the other out, reverting back to they way they would react to one another when they were part of the most fearsome quartet in Europe. Finally, when he became tired of hearing the bleach blonde vampire talk, Angel lost his patience and began the battle.

The souled vampire was soon surprised, and later disconcerted, to find that Spike was holding his own against him. In all of their previous confrontations, Angel had always had the upper hand and had trounced Spike on each occasion with relative ease. Now though, the fight was far more even, and Angel had the sneaking suspicion that his opponent was still holding a little back when he was nearing his limit.

When Spike had noticed Angel's surprise, he was quick to boast as to his newfound fighting ability. "Well, Peaches, while you were wallowing in self pity for a century over what you are, I had travelled the world with Dru to learn from the best, so I could be the biggest Big Bad on the planet. I might not have succeeded, but I did become better than you."

After that statement, Spike began to prove just how true that was. Whatever had been held back by the Blonde vampire was let loose, and Angel soon found himself on the defensive. For every move Angel had Spike had a counter move; for every blow he landed he received two in return.

Once again, Angel's close-minded opinion of his opponent had been his downfall, not going straight for the kill when he had the chance to do so due to misplaced confidence, and the souled vampire knew that he would not be the victor this time around, and that Spike would not let him continue to exist like he had done so before.

Soon a leg sweep that Angel hadn't seen coming laid the Champion on his back, Spike quickly leaning over him stake in hand.

"See how the mighty have fallen," Spike mocked, "the great Angelus, the Scourge of Europe, beaten by the childe of his childe. It looks as though your luck has finally run out."

As though the Fates had heard his decree, it was at that moment that the cave system began to rumble, the very ground Spike stood on shaking violently. As Spike battled to maintain his footing, Angel spotted that a large piece of the roof above them was about to fall, and only just managed to roll out of the way.

Spike however was not as fortunate, and soon found his legs and lower torso crushed by the large boulder, experiencing the feeling of paralysis for the second time in his un-life and knowing that this time it would be permanent.

Angel had managed to get to his feet and dodge as more parts of the cave began to come down around him, and plucked a stake from within his jacket out to dust his grandchilde, when the side of him he would like to believe belonged exclusively to his soulless self gave him an idea.

"Just like every other time I came out on top William," Angel said, his tone sounding more like Angelus than he would care to admit, "I shall leave you alive, only this time there will be no one around to nurse you back to health. There will be no Drusilla to look after you. There will be no minions to take the fall in your stead. You will be left here, alone with your hunger, for as long as your body can sustain itself."

As Spike listened to his fate, he became more and more scared, not wanting to experience the prolonged and excoriating end that his grandsire intended to leave him to. "You bastard!" he spat, trickles of blood leaving his mouth as he spoke. "You can't leave me like this! Kill me if you must, but don't leave me to such a fate!" he pleaded in vain, knowing that mercy was not a quality he would find being used in his direction.

"Goodbye William," Angel said with finality, "give my regards to Darla when you eventually get to Hell."

Angel then turned and made his way back the way he came, hoping that he would escape and not share in Spike's fate, ignoring the vampire's screams.

"Angelus!"

"ANGELUS!!"

* * *

Wesley and the others made their way through the tunnels as fast as they could, knowing that it wouldn't take long for the remaining demons to realise that they hadn't transported out of the caver, instead only using a blinding spell on them to allow their escape.

As they reached the mouth of the cave where they had originally entered, they could see Gunn, Buffy, Paige, Willow and Tara waiting anxiously for them, the five of them heaving a collective sigh of relief as they spotted their friends coming into view.

As the last of the quintet left the cave, they started to feel the earth move, as though there were an earthquake. While the phenomenon was not unheard of in San Francisco, they were far enough away from the fault lines to know that they violent shaking they were experiencing was more localised than that and they all turned their attention to the cave entrance.

They all moved further away from the cave when the sounds of angry demons giving chase could be heard, which soon became sounds of anguish as the cave collapsed around them, trapping them beneath tonnes and tonnes of rubble. The group knew that there would have been some smart enough to shimmer away, but that many of the demons would have been gripped with fear and incapable of using their powers in time to save themselves from being crushed by the falling debris.

As the dust cleared, the group looked at one another and asked two questions.

"Where's Angel?"

"Where's Xander?"

Not one of them had the answers.

* * *

Angel had been unsuccessful in escaping in time, and while he hadn't become pinned like Spike, he was still facing the prospect of becoming mad from hunger and experiencing the excruciating anguish of feeling your own body eat itself until he was nothing more than a skeleton.

Quickly resigning himself to his fate, knowing that there would be no way he could move the rubble, the vampire removed another stake from his jacket and prepared himself to use it. Just as he was to plunge the stake into his chest, he noticed a white gaseous substance coming through the rocks.

Soon the space Angel found himself in was filled with the gas, and he first felt pain, and then felt nothing as the world went dark.

**P3,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

It was a subdued group that entered the club, having searched for Xander and Angel for an hour before heading back. They knew that if either of them were okay, they would make it back to P3 by sunrise as arranged, so they had little choice but to sit around and wait.

At least, that is what they had thought.

Once entering the club, they realised that they had a whole new set of problems that would keep them more than occupied. Spying the three prone bodies on the floor, the group split up into three groups, each one going to their respective fallen friend.

Piper and the others all rushed over to Leo, horrified by the large pool of blood surrounding him, and by the deathly pale complexion on his skin. Knowing that it would be pointless to check for a pulse on someone who had been dead for nearly sixty years, Piper bent down in the blood pool and gently shook her fiancé's shoulder. She could feel her sisters and Cole standing behind her, all showing different levels of distress, but no one was capable of making a sound as they waited for any sign of life from their friend.

After a few moments of shaking, Leo moved ever so slightly and opened one very bloodshot eye. "Piper?" he mumbled almost incoherently, unable to see who was crouching above him but somehow knowing it was Piper.

"Hey," she whispered, smiling brightly even as tears streamed down her face.

They had been through things before and had been injured on many occasions, but Piper couldn't remember a time she had been so scared for someone else in her life. Seeing her future husband lying in his own blood was a sight she thought she would never see, and now knew that it was a sigh she would never wish to see again.

"Dawn… Glory took… tried to…" his words became more and more jumbled as he struggled to keep conscious.

"Shh, keep your strength," Piper told him, stroking his face gently. She turned to her sister Paige, who was looking more than a little nauseous, a hopeful look in her eye. "Can you help him?"

"I don't know," she replied, "but I'll try."

Piper nodded gratefully and moved out of the way as Paige knelt down in her place. Laying one hand on his head and one on his chest, Paige closed her eyes and once again concentrated as hard as she could on healing.

Soon, as with Buffy, a white glow appeared where her hands were in contact with his body and spread to cover him. The glow remained for some time, and the others could see that beads of sweat began to appear on Paige's brow as she tried as hard as she could to repair the damage that Glory had wrought, before she finally removed her hands and sagged down beside him, near faint from exhaustion.

"I've done all that I can," she explained, "but something is blocking me from healing him properly."

"Divine… power… blocks…" Leo said weakly,

"It's okay Leo," Cole told him, his voice surprisingly gentle, "I understand." He turned to the others and tried to explain. "Glory is a goddess, and her power suppresses your ability to heal. You might have been able to do something had the injuries not been so extensive, just as Leo had done for us the first time she was here, but…"

"Do not tell me there's nothing we can do for him!" Piper screamed cutting him off from finishing his sentence. She needed a way to vent the anger she felt building inside and Cole was the closest and most obvious target.

She immediately felt bad for shouting at him like that, especially when he had done nothing to deserve it, but he waved away her attempt at apologising with a smile, knowing to not take offence.

"Elders…" a delirious Leo mumbled.

They didn't need to hear any more for them to understand what Leo meant, as Paige quickly placed her hand on his arm and orbed up to the Elders Realm. Moments later, Cordelia's shout of panic drew their attention to the fact that Angel and Xander weren't the only ones missing from their group and they realised that rest was something they would not yet achieve.

* * *

She had known Dawn was missing almost before she entered the club, almost able to feel her absence like a physical thing. Buffy only managed to refrain from screaming in terror by sheer force of will, knowing that if she lost herself to the despair that was currently coursing through her veins she would be of no use to her mom, Dawn or anyone.

Seeing her mother laid out on the floor in such an uncomfortable position almost caused her to black out from the intensity of her emotions, nightmares she'd had in the past of coming home one day to find her mother dead coming to the forefront of her mind. Again, she forced those harrowing images from her mind as she went over to her mom, carefully kneeling down beside her for fear that any sudden movements would cause more damage.

Giles and the others knew her well enough to leave her be as Buffy gently rolled her mother over onto her back and checked her over for injuries, staying close enough to offer moral support but keeping far enough back to ensure that they didn't make her feel crowded.

Once she was happy that Joyce was uninjured, Buffy held her hand out and found a small bottle of salts placed in her hand a moment later, a small murmur of thanks to Giles coming from her lips before she opened the bottle and gently wafted it under her mother's nose. As she saw Joyce begin to come round, she closed the bottle and gently moved her into a seated position.

As Joyce opened her eyes, they all heard Cordelia's outburst and watched in dismay as Joyce's face crumpled into abstract misery, tears almost exploding out of her face her grief was so intense. "My baby girl, she's taken my baby girl," she wept, Buffy watching helplessly as her mother trembled uncontrollably in her grasp, her tears joining Joyce's on the ground.

"We'll get her back mom," Buffy whispered, promising to do whatever was necessary to make her words come true, "we'll get Dawn back. I promise."

* * *

Wesley and Gunn went over to Cordelia, who was already showing signs of coming to as they approached.

"What the hell hit me?" she asked as they knelt down beside her.

"Not sure," Wesley replied, looking over her with a critical eye for injuries, "we just got here ourselves."

Cordelia groaned for a moment before her eyes snapped open in fright and she bolted upright. "Dawn! Where is she!?" she shouted, frantically looking around the club.

"I haven't seen her," Gunn told her, feeling concerned and angry with himself for not noticing the young woman's absence before now.

"That bitch!" Cordelia screamed as she got to her feet. "When I see her I'm going to shove that reject from a porno through a meat grinder!"

"Who?" Wesley asked forcefully, wanting to know who had taken the youngest Summers girl and feeling bad that he hadn't noticed until now.

"Some blonde skank with a bad perm," the former cheerleader turned Seer spat. Seeing the blank looks coming from her two friends, she rolled her eyes impatiently, "Glory you morons. She came in, knocked Leo flying, talked about her Key, knocked Joyce and I aside like we were nothing and then I guess she took Dawn with her. Xander left me here to protect her; great job I did huh?" she berated herself.

"Glory is a Hell Goddess Cor," Gunn stated quietly but firmly, "I doubt she'd find any of us much of a fight, not even if were all here together. You did everything you could, no one could ask more."

"Xander could," she grumbled belligerently, not really believing what she'd said but was unwilling to let go of her guilt.

"Xander may well have changed a lot these past couple of years," Wesley said, "but I doubt he has changed so greatly that he would blame you for what has happened. He'll more than likely blame himself," he added, showing that his former profession wasn't just in name only.

"Is it just me," Gunn commented loudly enough for the whole group to hear him, "or has it just got cooler in her by about ten degrees?"

Surprised, the others all murmured in agreement as they felt the sudden chill in the air, all the more strange due to the balmy nature of the weather so far, even so early in the morning.

A pearly white gas then appeared from nowhere in the middle of the dance floor area, as though someone had just dumped a bucket of dry ice on the floor. Justifiably paranoid, the group readied themselves for attack, especially as the gas gave off a feeling unlike anything they had ever experienced before; not exactly evil, but most definitely powerful.

The gas spread so that it covered an area approximately ten feet in diameter reaching from floor to ceiling, before beginning to contract and becoming more solid. As the gas cloud grew smaller, it began to take on the shape of two humanoid lifeforms, before the gas dissipated completely leaving behind Xander and Angel. The moment the gas disappeared completely, Angel collapsed with a groan of pain, curling up into a foetal position.

"Sorry we're late," Xander informed them cheerfully, "traffic was a bitch." As he looked around the room and noticed the expression on everybody's faces, not to mention the pool of drying blood on the floor, the jovial look on Xander's faced vanished and was replaced with one of concern. "What happened? Where's Dawn? Where's Paige and Leo?" he asked in quick succession, each question sounding more forceful than the last.

"She took her," Joyce told him brokenly, "she took my baby girl."

Once again overcome with tears, Joyce sobbed into her daughter's shoulder, the blonde Slayer doing what she could to be as supportive to her mother as she had always been to her. As Buffy gently rocked her distraught mother, Cordelia took up the mantel of explaining what happened.

"While you were all out saving Buffy," she began, apologising with her eyes to the woman in question for the tone that appeared in her voice and actually feeling happy that she saw a nod of acceptance, "Glory showed up. She took Leo out straight away to ensure he couldn't orb her out like last time from what I remember Phoebe telling me. When Joyce and I got in her way, she batted us aside like flies and then the next thing I remember is coming to seeing Leo in a pool of his own blood and Dawn missing."

Xander looked at the expression on Cordelia's face and while she was doing an admirable job of hiding it, he could see that she was beating herself up over what had happened, blaming herself for not doing more to stop Glory. He went over to her and gently placed his hand on her shoulder, squeezing slightly.

"Hey now," he said soothingly, moving his hand down to stroke her arm. It was a testament to her emotional state that she was allowing him to do so. "You did everything that you could, and that is all anyone could ask for. The last time we met, she knocked us all about like we were nothing but insects, so you have nothing to feel ashamed about." Seeing that he wasn't getting through, he continued. "Glory is a Hell Goddess Cor, so unless you're packing a tactical nuke in your clothing somewhere, there was nothing you could do. You know," he continued, his tone becoming teasing, "I should check to see whether you are carrying a tactical nuke somewhere on you, just to be thorough."

"As if!" she retorted, her self-recrimination forgotten as her eyes blazed at the young man whilst striking him on the arm hard. "You lost that privilege a long time ago," she informed him haughtily, before her eyes went wide as she realised what he'd done. "You sneaky bastard," she told him, her voice tinged with begrudging respect.

"Hey, I had to do something," he said in defence, not sounding sorry in the least, "and that was the path of least resistance."

"Xander," Wesley cut in, feeling that now was the right time to do so, "why is Angel in such pain?"

"Could be something to do with our mode of transport I suppose," he replied vaguely, side stepping the rogue demon hunter and making his way towards Buffy and Joyce.

Giles and the others knew that they would only be in the way, so they quietly moved away to allow the trio some privacy, Xander acknowledging their actions with an almost smile. The young man then knelt down in front of Joyce and took her hands into his own, the action causing her to look up at him.

"I swear to you Joyce, if it takes my dying breath to do so, you'll have Dawn back by this time tomorrow," he vowed, his eyes and tone were so determined that Joyce found herself nodding in agreement with him without even noticing.

"Xander," Buffy said hesitantly, the first time she'd said much of anything since leaving, "I want to get her back as much as anyone, but how can you guarantee that?"

Buffy knew that whenever Xander made a statement like that, he meant every word and that to her knowledge he had never made a promise he hadn't kept, but form what she remembered the last time they'd face off against Glory she gone through them like they were wet tissue paper.

"Also, I noticed that you didn't answer my question regarding Angel's current state of anguish," Wesley cut in again, his tone hardening.

The former Watcher suddenly backed up a couple of paces as Xander's face appeared right in front of him in the blink of an eye. Wesley hadn't even seen the young man move from his position in front of the Summers matriarch, and the usually unflappable man felt a frisson of fear curl down his spine.

Xander's sudden change in position had startled everyone in the room, as not even Buffy had seen him move, and his change in demeanour put them all on edge, knowing that there was a good chance he could take them all on and win with ease.

"I'll deal with the Angel question first," Xander told the group as a whole while staring directly into Wesley's eyes, "only because you asked so nicely." He had said it with such forced casualness that everyone could tell he was straining to keep his emotions at bay. "The reason Angel is ins such pain," Xander continued, "is because his body is getting used to the changes I've made."

"What changes?" Gunn asked, not quite able to keep the suspicious tone out of his voice.

"I'd always promised Angelus that when he died I'd be there, and I kept my promise." He turned to Buffy and Joyce. "I always keep my promises."

"How could you when…"

"… The brooding one is still here?" Xander cut in, enjoying the annoyed look Wesley sent his way. "Don't like it when someone does it you, do you?" he asked, going on with his explanation before Wesley could answer. "Something everybody forgets is that Angel and Angelus are separate from one another. That isn't to say they don't share certain traits, an unhealthy obsession with hair products and young blondes being two prime examples, but the important parts, the ones that make up who they are, are polar opposites. Angelus is gone; Angel remains."

"It can't be that simple," Giles commented.

"Of course it isn't that simple," Xander replied, speaking as though to a child. "I couldn't just remove the demon, as it was the only thing keeping the corpse in the condition it was in, and while he wouldn't have dusted, he would have begun ageing rapidly until the body matched it's true age. So, as I couldn't get rid of Angelus," he continued, turning his gaze to Cole, "I decided to change him so that he was far more controllable, and there wouldn't be any danger of him being let loose if Angel got his rocks off."

"You didn't," Cole whispered.

"You bet I did," Xander declared brightly, the Charmed Ones looking at him with wide eyes as they cottoned on, but the others remained clueless. "Angel is no longer a vampire cursed with a soul; he is now a half demon, with the human half dominant."

"How does that make Angelus less dangerous?" Cole asked. "Even with the human side dominant over the demon, in a way the demon side now has more freedom than before."

"That would be the case if Angelus were… all there is probably the best way to put it. When I said that Angelus was gone I meant it. Unlike you, where Belthazor has a mind and personality of his own, Angel's demon side is mindless, allowing him to control it perfectly. If he ever becomes a danger, it will be down to Angel and Angel alone."

"I know I will sound like a broken record when I say this," Wesley said, "but why is he in so much pain?"

"Do you think having your molecules played around with and your psyche twisted are pleasurable experiences, because of you do then I suggest you either find a good shrink or a good dominatrix."

"Alright," Buffy began, "you've answered the Angel question, now answer how you're so sure you'll be able to get Dawn back by tomorrow? And while we're on the subject, how were you able to do that to Angel anyway?"

"The two questions can be answered together. Firstly, I now know that Glory needs for the planets to be in a certain alignment to return home, and that doesn't happen for a coupe of days. As I won't allow her to use Dawn to get home, it's only logical that I'll get her back before then. As to the how I'll be doing it," Xander continued, his tone becoming less sure, "well, that one is going to be a bit difficult for you all to digest, so I'll lead you in slowly.

"Science and magic are closely linked," Xander explained, his tone reminding Buffy of Giles when he went into lecture mode, "especially when it comes to energy. Energy cannot be lost, it can only be changed," deliberately ignored Willow's murmurs of agreement, "so when the legend stated that The Source would be destroyed, it wasn't… entirely correct."

"As you're still alive," Giles ventured, "I feel safe to assume that you did defeat The Source, so I am having a little trouble understanding what you mean."

"Firstly Mr. Giles, you should never assume as you only make an ass of you and me. Secondly, while The Source is destroyed, his energy is not, because as I said energy cannot be destroyed. Instead it was changed, purified for lack of a better word, and given to me."

"You're The Source!" Piper yelled, her sisters and Cole stepping back from him and taking a defensive posture.

"No," Xander drawled, "I said I have the purified power of The Source. If I were The Source, I wouldn't be explaining myself to you as you'd all be dead," he added bluntly, feeling a little hurt that they would immediately believe the worst of him.

The three sisters were about to disagree when Cole stopped them with a gesture, finding himself surprised that it actually worked. "He has a point," he told them, causing them all to turn and face him, their eyes demanding an explanation. "He doesn't feel anything like The Source, and there is no way he would have stood my continued existence if I were this close to him, which was the reason Xander told me to leave before they fought."

"Power itself cannot be classified as either good or evil," Xander went on, nodding to Cole in thanks for backing him, "it simply is; it is the way that power is used that decides whether it is good or evil. Just like the Three Fold Rule, if you use your power for good, you're good; if you use your power for evil, you're evil. The Source had used his power for eons for evil, and had over time tainted it with that evil, so that when it was passed down it tainted whoever inherited it. However," he went on when he saw people about to comment, "the power had been purified of that taint and then given to me to use as I see fit. So far, I've seen fit to use it to escape from being crushed under tonnes of rubble, rescuing Angel and ensuring that Angelus was no longer a problem, and once I've found Glory I shall retrieve Dawn and then deal with her."

"How do you know you'll be able to take Glory, given that you weren't so successful last time?" Phoebe asked, not wanting to sound like she didn't have faith in him but needing to know he wasn't jumping in without thinking first.

"The Seven told Leo that there were only two beings capable of defeating her without having to go to Her; The Source and The First. I now have the power that The Source had on top of my abilities as 'The One Who Sees', so even if I cannot outright kill her, I will be able to get Dawn back and do Glory enough damage to give us time to think of something else if needs be."

"Pride goeth before a fall," Angel rasped, joining the conversation at last as he slowly moved to a seated position, still in a large amount of pain but not so much that he couldn't control it. "You and Spike both taught me that recently; don't find out the same way I did."

"I don't intend to. As I said, my focus right now is to rescue Dawn, not taking out Glory. What we did to rescue Buffy, will work just as well to rescue Dawn; I will act as the diversion while you guys grab Dawn and bring her back to Joyce."

"That's all well and good," Giles said, "but that plan only has merit if we knew where Glory was."

"Are you trying to be Devil's Advocate, or are you really so pessimistic?" Xander snapped, having quickly grown tired of Giles' constant interruptions.

"I am just trying to be realistic," Giles said in defence of his comments.

"We live in a world where reality can be warped," Xander replied, waving his hand and moving them all back into Halliwell Manor, a pristine looking Halliwell Manor, "on a whim. The only thing that will stop us from doing what we need to are our own doubts."

"How?" Prue asked Xander, completely shocked by how her home looked. It was as though the battle that had almost destroyed it never even took place.

"The damage had been caused indirectly by The Source, I thought it would only be fair that I use his power to put it right," Xander told her simply.

"Could we get back to the part where we get Dawn back?" Buffy asked, trying to be nice but finding her tone snappish as she talked.

"No problem Buff," Xander replied genially, surprising Giles and the others by his lack of anger towards her. "I can search for her by her power level, which could only be matched by two or three other beings on this planet. I couldn't check for it before, but The Source already used it once before to originally set her on me, and I can use it to find her now."

"How long will it take?" Joyce asked, the first time she had been able to string a coherent sentence since the attack.

"Shouldn't take too long," he told her reassuringly, "but we can't just go after her guns blazing once I do, as we'll just put her in more risk. Right now, as hard as it may be to hear, she is safe; Glory can't do anything to get home just yet and she needs Dawn alive and healthy until then."

Seeing the look on both Buffy and Joyce's faces, Xander quickly went on. "I'm not saying that we should leave her with Glory, far from it, all I am saying is that we have a small amount of time to ensure that whatever plan we do use," he glanced at Giles briefly, "has the best chance of success."

"What of Glory?" Cordelia asked, thoughts of what she would like to do to the Goddess flooding her mind.

"While I said before that my main focus is to rescue Dawn I meant it," Xander told her, his voice beginning to darken as he too thought of what he would like to do to Glory if given the opportunity, "but we have to face facts that if we don't take Glory out this time, she will keep coming back again and again, and every time that she does is giving her one more opportunity to succeed."

"Can you actually kill a goddess?" Joyce asked, hoping that the answer is yes. The thought of having that… woman after her daughter for the rest of all their lives was a harrowing one, and if there were any way to be rid of her, she would do almost anything to achieve it.

"Not sure, but I'll give it the old college try."

"Now isn't the time to be flippant Xander," Joyce snapped, immediately looking apologetic afterwards.

"You know I mean nothing by it Joyce, it's just how I cope. Anyway, my thoughts were less on killing her and more on sending her away."

"You're not seriously planning on…" Giles began, only for Xander to appear in front of him just like he did Wesley.

"You even try to finish that sentence and you will find out personally exactly how powerful I've become," Xander told Giles seriously, the group looking on as his eyes went from brown, to green, to onyx, and finally to white. "Dawn is the little sister I would have had if Tony hadn't gone after Jessica with a bottle when she was pregnant. I wouldn't take a drop of her blood if my life depended on it, so I'm sure as hell wouldn't even suggest it just to let some Harmony wannabe get home. There's more than one way to skin a cat, and there's more than one way to travel between dimension, or in this case planets given that Glory is from this dimension."

"What? Why would she need to open a dimensional portal using Dawn if there's no need?" the former Watcher asked.

"Because she's crazy?" he replied rhetorically. "That's the reason why all dimensions would merge if she tried; it would cause in layman's terms a feedback loop that would continue until the energy of the spell was used and then would collapse on itself. My guess is that someone told her that she needed the Key to get home, and as I know it wasn't The Source my money's on The First. As Angel can testify," Xander continued, indicating to the newly minted half demon, "The First can be pretty persuasive when it wants to be, and I don't see Glory as being the strong willed type."

"So all we have to do is get her off the planet? Anyone know if NASA has a place spare on the next shuttle to the Moon?" Buffy asked, her tone indicating that she knew that wouldn't be all that easier than killing her.

"Couldn't you just teleport her away?" Cordelia asked, earning approving nods from several around the room.

"Yes, but it would be a one way journey for both of us. I would be using a great deal of power to leave the planet, even more to take someone with me, and being away from the source of my power would leave me too weak to return. Anyway," Xander continued, "I have an idea that should work, as long as I can get the damn thing to work that is."

"What's that?"

"Anyone ever hear of a Chapa'ai?"

**Chartered Plane,  
En Route To Home, Kansas.**

Glory and a sullen looking Dawn were sitting side by side on the plane, sitting opposite to the family who had already chartered this flight. The goddess couldn't help but find the situation ironic; she was on a plane going to Home, where she will prepare to go home herself.

'Persuading' the family to allow their passage had not been difficult, all it had taken was to feed off the brain of their live in nanny for them to be more than accommodating, and it also served as a reminder to Dawn not to misbehave, knowing that she would make the family pay for any indiscretion on her part.

The plane itself actually lived up to Glory's extravagant lifestyle; white leather seats, plush carpet on the floor, and it made a change to the way she'd had to travel recently. It would be one of the very few things she would miss, the lavish way in which those with influence lived on this planet; she had a palace with servants all at her beck and call whenever it suited her, but she had deliberately stunted the technological growth of her 'devoted' followers, to ensure that they didn't begin to see themselves as anything other than her playthings.

While the thought of allowing them to develop far enough to provide her with the things she'd become accustomed to while exiled here on Earth, she would never run the risk of them believing they could think and make decisions for themselves. It wasn't that she worried about them rising up against her, as she'd just sacrifice a few children and make them see things her way, but having to deal with the petty squabbles of a race of beings that should have never been given life to being with was a tedious and time wasting affair.

Despite the things that she would miss, Glory was more than ready to return home and return to the role that she was born for; ultimate ruler of all she surveyed. When she had first found herself exiled here on Earth, she had decided that as a goddess she deserved to be in charge.

It hadn't gone as she'd planned.

The moment she decided to make the world aware of her presence, She arrived and informed her that it would not be in her best interest to try anything on Earth, as She would consider it a challenge to Her authority. Glory may not be the smartest deity in existence, but when The Creator suggests you don't do something, you don't do it.

She began searching for a way home from that moment.

When The First came to her and told her of The Key, she had originally been a little wary, especially as the apparition came to her in the guise of her fallen brother Ben. She and Ben had never got on, as he believed that they should leave the people of their world to their own devices, which caused a lot of tension between the two and had ended with Ben's heart in Glory's hand after she had reached in and pulled it from his chest in his sleep. So, for Ben to suggest a way for her to get back to the people he had wanted to protect from her had sounded more than a little odd, but after a while she had been convinced that it was her only way back to where she belonged and had taken up the search for it zealously.

And now, sitting next to her with a dejected look on her face, was the human incarnation of her Key, and was a step closer to her ultimate goal. Making the Key flesh had thrown her, and maybe the monks believed she wouldn't use it if it were a child, but Glory had decimated thousands of beings for no other reason than because she hadn't in a while, so the notion of draining a young girl dry to return home didn't phase her for a moment.

The only thing that annoyed her was that she needed to wait before she could begin the ritual; a certain planetary alignment was needed for the Key to work properly and it wasn't for another day or so. She had never been one to enjoy waiting, and her search for her Key had strained her patience beyond any and all tolerance, but the thought of finally getting back home was all the incentive she needed to maintain her composure until then.

* * *

Dawn was very tempted to use the W word right now, but knowing her luck it would probably only make things worse. Instead, she tried to imagine herself to be as small as possible, hoping in vain to disappear, but knowing that unlike the story she'd been told about Marcie she probably wouldn't be successful.

Her thoughts turned once again to her mom, and the way she had looked before Glory dragged her away. She hoped that she was okay; when her mom had started feeling ill because of the cancer, Dawn had somehow been able to sense her discomfort, and she didn't feel anything like that at the moment, so that had to mean that she was okay.

She had to be okay; she just had to be.

"This is your captain speaking; we are starting to make our final descent, so I advise that you fasten our seatbelts and ensure that your seats are in their upright and locked positions. I repeat…"

Dawn drowned out the voice of the captain as she mechanically fastened her seatbelt, watching as the family that had been unfortunate enough to be caught up in her nightmarish world did so just as mechanically, glancing at their captor every few seconds for fear that any sudden movement may bring down her wrath and end up like their nanny.

She shook her head slightly, expelling the defeatist thoughts that had begun to plague her mind. Xander would come; Xander and Buffy will find her and they'll save her, just they always do. Neither Buffy nor Xander had ever let her down when it mattered most, and she knew with every fibre of her being that they wouldn't let her down now.

They were the good guys, and the good guys always win.

Don't they?


	29. Chapter Twenty Nine

_**Chapter Twenty-Nine**_

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco,  
California.**

Xander opened his eyes and smiled slightly as he saw the perfectly spherical orb floating in front of him. "There, all done," he told them, satisfied with his work.

It had been several hours since the defeat of The Source and Dawn's abduction by Glory, and everyone had taken a little time to step back and regroup for a while, knowing that their emotional states were erratic at best and that going in half cocked against a being as powerful as Glory would be less that wise.

With Leo and Paige's absence, it had been up to Xander to heal those that were wounded, using the opportunity to check on Joyce's condition. It wasn't as though he doubted Leo's abilities, far from it in fact, but until he had seen that all traces of the tumour had been removed, he would have always had a little niggling doubt in his mind that she would be fine.

His next action was to take Piper up to check on Leo, who was healing up nicely but would probably be out of action for a few days, leaving him out of any plan to rescue Dawn. He hadn't taken that particular piece of news very well, feeling guilty for what he saw as his second failure at keeping Dawn safe.

Xander, Piper and Paige had all argued with him on that, explaining to him like Xander had to Cordelia that they had been up against an honest to, well, God, Goddess, and that it had been a miracle that they'd survived at all. It had placated him a little, but they could still see that he wouldn't feel better until Dawn was safe and sound.

Xander had left Piper with her half sister and fiancé, knowing that she'd be fine up there for the time being, and then returned to speak to Cole. He offered the former agent of The Source a similar arrangement to Angel, where he could lessen the effects that Belthazor had on him so he wouldn't need to be worried about losing control.

Phoebe, who had stayed at Cole's request, had been all for it, but Cole decided not to take him up on it, stating that he wanted to find a balance between his two halves, pointing out that he had been born this way, unlike Angel who'd had it done to him, and for one side of his personality to be reduced to the same state as Angelus, it might have a damaging effect on him as well.

That done, Xander had then gone to work on creating the tracking device they would need to find Glory. Joyce had asked him why they didn't just track Dawn instead, but Xander had no way of explaining why he would not be able to do so without revealing Dawn's true origins to her, and that was the last thing Joyce needed right now, so instead he told her that wherever Glory was, Dawn would be too, and luckily the Summers Matriarch had been satisfied with that.

"So, how does it work?" Buffy asked as she moved behind him, looking over his shoulder to look at the glowing ball, which looked like a scale model of Earth. "It looks a little like the globe Giles gave me to help explain who Dawn is."

"Could be similar," he replied, looking up and smiling slightly at the blonde Slayer, "but as I never saw that I couldn't be sure. Basically, this sphere acts like a scrying spell, allowing us to locate Glory wherever she may be on the planet. Once it has a fix on her location, the globe will zoom in on her, giving us a real time indication of her whereabouts, indicated with a glowing red dot."

"Couldn't you have just used a scrying spell for that, if it does the same thing?" Prue asked, noticing the closeness of the two and feeling a little discomforted by it.

Prue might not have held any thoughts of there being a relationship between herself and Xander, but that didn't mean she wanted to watch the beginning stages of a relationship between him and Buffy. She was still a little confused as to why he was so calm, even happy, around the young woman, given the way he had spoken to her last. She could still remember seeing Buffy there in Xander's mind, but she had no idea whether it was actually Buffy or just a figment of Xander's imagination, but going by the way they felt so comfortable around each other, she was starting to believe it was the former.

"Glory is a goddess," he told her, "and any normal scrying spell would either give too vague a location for us to use, or would simply explode in our faces and neither of those options really appeal to me. Anyway, we don't really have anything of hers to use for a typical scrying spell, whereas this orb is designed to tune in to her unique power signature, one that The Source had used to find her before. Finally, this continues to track her for as long as she is alive, so in the unlikely even she gives us the slip, we will still know where she is, at least as long as she's on Earth."

"I doubt that The Source would have created something as sophisticated as that to find her before," Cole commented, "for fear of someone else getting their hands on it."

"You're right," Xander agreed, "he didn't, at least no physically. He actually made a mental construct of the sphere, so that he would be the only one aware of its existence."

"Why didn't you do that then?" he asked.

"Partly because I didn't like the way the image went over my normal view; it was too disorientating for me to use for long, not to mention distracting. Also, by having the orb as a physical object it will let the rest of you know the moment Glory is no longer on Earth."

"You still haven't explained just what a Chapa'ai is, and how it will help you to deal with Glory," Giles pointed out, also feeling a little confused by the way he and Buffy were interacting.

He remembered vividly the way Buffy had been acting after she had been sent back upon Xander's discovery of their deception, and as far as he was aware they'd had very little time to air their differences, let alone the time to enable them to go back to such a friendly situation. Giles was also a little irked that Xander seemed so accepting of Buffy's presence, whereas he and Willow were barely tolerated.

He knew it was childish to feel that way, but Giles wanted his relationship with Xander to return to what it was, although with more honesty on his side, and he had as yet been utterly unsuccessful in his attempts.

"A Chapa'ai," Xander began to explain, "otherwise known as a Stargate, allows for a stable wormhole to be established between two points, enabling almost instantaneous transport across the galaxy."

"But that's not possible..." Willow blurted out, the first words she had spoken since returning, but quickly stopped speaking before she could say anything further.

Ever since her revelations into her behaviour, she had been very withdrawn around the others and especially Xander. She was afraid of how he would react if she did speak to him, given her recent interactions with him, and had stopped herself from commenting several times.

She, like Giles, was also jealous of the easy rapport that he and Buffy currently shared, and was desperate to get back to that level of friendship with Xander, but could think of no words that could help.

"While it's true that the general opinion in the scientific community is that such a thing is not possible," Xander replied, unperturbed by the intrusion, "that's only because humans are not yet advanced enough to fully understand the principals behind it unless it is explained to them, at least not the ones on this planet. Suffice to say that it is possible, and has been for thousands of years."

"So where are these Stargates, and why haven't we seen them before now?" Wesley asked, his tone indicating that he didn't fully believe what Xander was telling them.

"There were originally four Stargates on Earth; the first was in the Amazon until the Aztec goddess Xochiquetzal took it with her when she left Earth. The second left with the city of Atlantis..."

"Good Lord," Giles breathed, taken aback by the casual way Xander talked about one of the greatest myths in history.

"... The third used to be in Egypt," Xander continued, although he smiled slightly at Giles' outburst, "but it was found during an archaeological dig in the 20's and brought back to America."

"So that's the one we'll be using?" Buffy enquired, butting in on his explanation.

"Ah, no. At the moment, that particular Stargate is under the watchful eye of the American Military. Although it isn't currently in use, as they think that it only goes to one planet and that they nuked it, it's still inside a military installation, and I've had about enough of them to last several lifetimes," he explained, garnering nods of agreement from the Sunnydale contingent, thinking of The Initiative.

"So where's the last one then?" both Watchers asked simultaneously.

"Antarctica," he told them both idly as he continued to look at the sphere, waiting for it to pinpoint Glory's location, "actually more like under Antarctica to be precise."

"How are we going to lure Glory to Antarctica when she already has what she wants?" Buffy asked confused.

"We're not, I am. After we..."

"What do you mean, you will?" Buffy asked, interrupting him as she walked round to face him, her tone hardening slightly.

"Exactly that," he told her, "as I am the only one with a chance of beating her. I'm not saying that you wouldn't be able to help," Xander went on when he noticed the way she'd reacted to his last comment, "it's just that it would be very risky to transport anyone else along with Glory, and once we're out of populated areas I'll be able to go all out against her without having to worry about too much collateral damage."

"Do you know whether this Stargate even works anymore?" Giles asked.

"I haven't actually been there," Xander admitted, "at least not yet anyway, but the Ancients built things to last, so I'm not overly worried."

"You may not be, but we can't base our plan around an unknown factor," Wesley insisted, "especially when we only have your word that such a device actually exists."

Xander bit back a retort, finding Wesley's attitude less and less tolerable with each passing second, and instead decided to prove his claims. With a wave of Xander's hand, the entire group were suddenly inside an ice chamber, the biting cold cutting right through them all. Angel, still not used to his new status as a half demon, instinctively cowered away from the sunlight that was streaming in through the chamber entrance, only to be surprised when the pain he'd been expecting didn't happen.

"This," Xander began, waving his arm at the large metal ring behind him, "is a Stargate, and this is what happens when a Stargate is activated."

The inner ring began to turn, the noise jolting everyone. Soon, after a combination of symbols had been chosen, the ring began to fill with a water-like substance which then exploded out, almost but not quite reaching them, before receding back to the 'surface', which now looked like the surface of a swimming pool but on its side.

"That explosion indicated that a wormhole had been established to another location, generally a planet. It is best not to get too close when it does that by the way, as that explosion is the event horizon forming, and will quite happily destroy anything it touches. Once established, it is safe to go through, and only allows travel one way, so you don't have to worry about any aliens suddenly coming through at the moment."

"You plan on using that to kill her aren't you, not to send her away," Buffy said, making it a statement and not a question, although her shivering making her voice wobble. "You're going to lure her here and than try to get her in the path of thing when it goes off."

"As I said, it will destroy anything it touches," Xander repeated, emphasising the word anything. "The tricky part will be keeping her in the way long enough without getting caught by it myself, but I'm sure I'll figure something out."

"Xander," Joyce began softly, although he could hear her teeth chatter slightly, "can we go back now?"

"Sorry," he said sheepishly, realising that even in Summer Antarctica wasn't exactly warm, and waved his hand again to transport them all back to the manor, "my bad."

"Next time you do that, could you take us somewhere a little warmer, or at least give us coats?" Cordelia complained, using it to hide her awe over just how powerful her former boyfriend had become, and feeling a little worried over how freely he was using his abilities. She knew all about the old adage that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, and hoped that it wouldn't be true with Xander.

"Alright, we now know that the Stargate is available," Wesley conceded, trying to maintain his calm despite feeling rattled over what he'd just experienced, "but we still need to figure out how to get Glory there."

Xander sighed, trying to reign in his anger over Wesley's almost pathological need to take charge of the situation, even when it was clear he had no control at all. "Mr Wyndham Pryce, I don't know exactly what I have done to piss you off, beyond not kissing your ass like a good colonial little boy, but if you continue to act the way you are, I'm gonna have to put you over my knee."

"Now see here," Wesley began, only to be cut off by Giles.

"He's right Wesley," the older man told him, thinking that this might be a perfect opportunity to begin building bridges with Xander, "you do seem intent on trying to find fault in whatever Xander is saying, and seem to doubt everything he says even when given proof to the contrary."

"That's the pot calling the kettle black Rupert," the younger man retorted, "you have been questioning him as well."

"You're right, he has," Xander agreed, cutting in, "but despite our problems at the moment, Giles' second guessing me comes from a need to ensure that everyone will be safe and that I've thought things through. I don't feel that it's the same for you, and I'd like to know why."

Giles was surprised by Xander's defence of him, but was wise enough not to show it apart from a small nod of gratitude, which, again surprisingly, Xander returned.

Wesley sighed and sat down roughly in a nearby chair, looking frustrated. "To be perfectly honest with you I haven't the faintest idea," he told him, "but whenever you talk I have this almost overwhelming urge to find some way to undermine you in the eyes of the others."

Xander looked at Wesley, and for once allowed his head to overrule his heart. He wanted to annoy the man in front of him just as much he was being annoyed, but he knew that there was no reason for there to be such animosity between them, which meant that there might be an outside force causing it. The moment he thought that, Xander instantly wanted to find out why someone would do it, and more importantly who would do it. The first thing he had to do though was find out if his theory was correct or not, and he had to do it now.

Moving faster than anyone in the room had the ability to track, Xander stepped in front of Wesley and pushed his hand into his head, needing direct contact with his mind to be assured of any findings. It wasn't hard to find what he needed, but found that the removal would be a little tricky, at least if he wanted Wesley to remain able to count to five unaided and dress himself. Leaving that problem for the moment, Xander went on to find out the 'who' and the 'why'. The 'who' Xander found was Wolfram & Hart, which made figuring out the 'why' pretty easy, and once he was satisfied he began the process of counteracting what they had done to him.

Xander removed his hand from within Wesley's head and stepped away, the group looking at him in degrees of astonishment and disbelief. "Hey Angel," he began, turning to the newly minted half demon, "before you got caught up in all this, did you find Wesley becoming more confrontational of late?"

"Now you come to mention it…" Angel trailed off as he renewed his glare. "What the hell did you just do?" he demanded.

"He might piss me off something chronic, and he would probably want to say at least some of the things he's been saying," Xander explained, "but Wesley is generally a tactful man. Given that, I figured that there must be something going on in the old noggin to make him act the way he has, so I decided to take a peek and check."

"And you didn't think it would be wise to ask first?" Wesley said archly, keeping his voice down a bit as he had a headache from whatever Xander had done to him.

"Would you have agreed?" Xander asked in reply, knowing that the answer would be no. "I wouldn't normally pry into another man's personal affairs, but you have been seeing a woman by the name of Lorna Gilham have you not?"

"Not that it's of any business of yours, but yes, I have," Wesley replied, unhappy with this particular line of questioning.

"You dog!" Gunn exclaimed. "How come you never told us?"

"She is not aware of what I truly do for a living," Wesley informed his friend and colleague, feeling a little guilty that he had kept this part of his life from them, "and therefore I have been reticent to expose her to situations where she might discover it."

"Well Lorna knows all about the supernatural, and knew who you were and what you did before she even met you, at least before she met you looking the way she did. You probably won't believe me, but I am sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but your girlfriend works for Wolfram & Hart and you've already had dealings with her."

"That's preposterous! There is no way Lorna works for Wolfram & Hart!" Wesley roared as he jumped out of his chair and took a step towards Xander menacingly, his emotions overriding his common sense.

Xander didn't react to his posturing, knowing that he had acted in a similar vein when someone he cared about was accused of something. Instead he remained calm and kept his voice moderated whilst he continued his explanation. "Lorna Gilham doesn't exist…"

"First you tell me she works for the people out to get Angel, and now you're telling me I've been seeing a figment of my imagination? You're delusional," Wesley stated angrily.

"No, I'm Xander, but you already knew that. As for Wolfram & Hart being out to get Angel, if they really wanted him dead he'd have been blowing in the wind by now." When Xander saw the looks of confusion on the Fang Gang's faces, he rolled his eyes and explained it to them. "For anyone with the power and resources to bring Darla back from the dead as a fully souled human when all that had been left of her body was ash, killing a single vampire, even one of Angel's skill, would be child's play. As I was saying," he went on, getting back on topic, "Lorna Gilham doesn't exist outside of a glamour spell and some fake ID. Her real name is Lilah Morgan."

"That stone cold bitch? I'm sure you'd need the jaws of life to get those legs open, not to mention a nasty case of frostbite afterwards," Cordelia snarked, her opinions on the lawyer in question clear to all.

"Your blunt but otherwise accurate assessment aside," Xander told his ex-girlfriend before turning his attention back to Wesley, "Lilah has been given the task of… ingratiating herself with you, getting you to trust her whilst subtly casting spells on you to make you more adversarial with anyone who might be a threat to her bosses."

"I still…" Wesley's tirade trailed off as the effects of Xander's intrusion into his mind made themselves known to him. "I am a fool."

"No, you're not," Xander assured him, his tone softening as he could see that Wesley was now aware of the truth. "She is good at what she does and her bosses equipped her with the best glamours and spells available; you would never have realised what she was doing to you had I not counteracted the effects."

"What is he talking about?" Angel asked, looking at Wesley for the answer.

"Now that the wool has been lifted from my eyes, I can see that it is Lilah that I have been seeing. Her close proximity enabled her to cast several spells on me to become more and more trusting of her, telling her what we were doing without even giving it a second thought. It also made me become increasingly adversarial with anyone that wanted to undermine Wolfram & Hart, or people that had the capability to posing a significant threat to them." Wesley turned to Xander. "Xander, all I can do is apologise for acting..."

"You have nothing to apologise for," Xander told him with a small smile. "It wasn't you that caused the problem, it was Lilah. I know that just because you're no longer enspelled doesn't mean you'll agree with everything I say," he went on, "but you'll at least be a bit more polite about it."

"Now that we've got that out of the way," Buffy said, "can we get back to the whole getting-rid-of-the-bitch-that-wants-to-kill-my-sister thing?"

Wesley, Angel and Xander looked at each other for a moment and shrugged at the same time before speaking as one. "Sure."

**Unknown Location,  
Home, Kansas.**

_**'467,825 bottles of beer on the wall, 467,825 bottles of beer, you take one down and pass it around, 467,824 bottles of beer on the wall. 467,824 bottles of beer on the wall, 467,824 bottles of beer...'**_

"Will you stop your incessant noise!" Glory screamed at Dawn in a peak of frustration, having listened to that song for hours on end.

_**'Fine,'**_ she 'replied' sullenly, although a small smile peaked through. Glory looked at her suspiciously for a moment and then turned round and continued brushing her hair in front of the large theatre style mirror. _**'I know a song that'll get on your nerves, get on your nerves, get on your nerves, I know a song that'll get on your nerves, get get get on your nerves. I know a song that...'**_

"SHUT UP!!"

Dawn was making the best of a bad situation, and had decided to take a page out of Xander's book and annoy her captor as much as possible. She had realised on the flight over that she was beginning to get defeatist, and had to have faith in her friends and family to save her, so had started to irritate Glory as a way of bolstering her spirits.

There was a small, dark part of her mind that told her that if she annoyed Glory enough she might kill her, and would then ensure that she could never get home, but did her best to ignore those thoughts, as she knew if that were to happen Glory would take her frustrations out on Xander and the others, and she didn't want their deaths on her conscience. However, she wanted to keep Glory distracted for whenever Buffy and the others came to rescue her, so had continued on with her plan.

Originally, she had been singing aloud, but Glory soon put paid to that by gagging her. Not long after that Dawn had found out that, because of their unique link and now close proximity, Glory could hear her thoughts, as she had been protesting long and hard in her head about the way she was being treated, only to be told by the ditzy deity to be quiet. From that point on Dawn had really gone to town, singing every annoying song she knew in her head, as off key and as loudly as she could manage.

Because Glory couldn't risk hurting her before the ceremony, and with her underlings in another state unaware of their location, Glory wasn't able to leave Dawn alone, and therefore could do nothing to stop her. Dawn would stop when she sensed Glory was reaching the limits of her tolerance, which given her mental state was quite high, only to restart from the beginning again a little while later.

She just hoped that the others would get there soon, because if she kept this up for much longer she'd drive herself insane. _**'I'm Henry the Eighth I am, Henry the Eighth I am I am…'**_


	30. Chapter Thirty

_**Chapter Thirty**_

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco, California.**

Xander was not the most popular of people in the manor at the moment, as he'd administered, without consent, a sleep spell to the group after they had discussed the broad strokes of the plan to rescue Dawn.

Whether they wanted to admit it or not, Xander knew it had been a necessary action to take; they had all been very stressed over the past day or so, and not only had they just survived a major battle against the Source and the majority of his demonic horde, due to circumstances outside of their control, they were having to prepare themselves to engage in yet another, this time against a Hell Goddess and who know what else.

Xander had no doubt that, despite how shattered they all must have felt, they wouldn't have given a moments consideration to taking a rest before they'd rescued Dawn and, if possible, taken care of Glory. Going into battle when they're dead on their feet would have placed a further level of risk on all of them, which was something that Xander wasn't about to stand by and allow to happen if he could prevent it.

Xander wasn't arrogant enough to think that those rules didn't apply to him as well, so he too had gotten some rest, although it had been more like a 20 minute power nap then the several hours of sleep he'd ensured the others had. If he'd actually needed more than that he would have taken it, but since he'd been imbued with the purified power of the Source, he'd felt like he'd been put on a Gatorade drip, and he hadn't felt as buzzed as he did right now in a long, long time. He knew the feeling wouldn't last forever, but for right now he was more than capable of doing what was necessary.

Xander had to admit that there had been another reason why he'd rested, and that was so he could honestly say to the others that he had, as he knew they would have been even more pissed off at him if he hadn't taken his own advice. Luckily, while the looks he'd received were less than pleasant, none of them could deny that they felt better after a rest and therefore didn't do more then the required moaning and complaining, not to mention the current silent treatment. Not surprisingly, Buffy and Joyce had been the main protagonists, as their concern for Dawn's safety made them both less than rational about things, but given everything that they'd gone through the last couple of days, Xander didn't take it to heart.

After he had woken up, Xander hadn't been idle during their slumber, and had instead used the relative quiet to his advantage. Xander had been berating himself over what had happened to Dawn, believing that he should have known that the perfect time for Glory to come after her would be when they were all busy with Buffy and the Source, and should have left Joyce and Cordelia better equipped to deal with her.

He knew rationally that there would have been little they could have done to stop her from taking Dawn, regardless of what he left, and that they had no way of knowing that Glory was even in the country, let alone in the city, but Xander would freely admit that he was his own worst critic, and would not even begin to feel better about what he perceived to be his failure until Dawn was back where she belonged.

Anyway, in an effort to rectify his 'mistake', Xander had delved into his almost limitless knowledge and had designed and produced enchanted medallions for Joyce, Cordelia, Gunn and, when they retrieved her, Dawn, that would better enable them to defend themselves and assist the others if and when the time came, although he hadn't told them that yet. When activated, their medallion would augment their speed, strength, stamina and agility to near Slayer levels, as well as make them highly proficient in martial arts.

The only thing he hadn't done, which the wicked and geeky parts of his mind had suggested, was to make the user suddenly become clothed head to toe in brightly coloured Spandex with a crash helmet stylised into the shape of a different dinosaur, only because he knew Cordelia would never let him hear the end of it if he had.

As a safeguard, Xander had ensured that each medallion would only work for the person it was meant for, having tied them into their own personal aura, so if they lost them, or had them taken away, the medallion couldn't be used against them. He'd also made them a one-shot deal, only working for 24 hours after their activation, so they wouldn't be tempted to use them too often.

It wasn't that Xander didn't trust them with the power, as he did; he knew that Cordelia and Joyce would be responsible with it, and that both Joyce and Buffy would ensure that Dawn didn't try to abuse it. He even trusted Gunn, even though he barely knew the man, but he didn't want any of them to become dependent on them, which would be easy to do given the lives they led.

Joyce would probably never use it unless necessary, but he knew Dawn well enough to know that she would try and use it as an excuse to join her sister on patrol, or worse, go out on her own in an effort to prove that she was more than just the Slayer's sister. While Xander had no doubt that Cordelia and Gunn would be responsible, but he couldn't see either one of them leaving their medallion behind, even when going out on a standard patrol, and the risk of them allowing their own skills to become lax because they knew the medallion would compensate made him reluctant to make them more permanent.

Another thing that had happened during their unscheduled sleep was that the tracking globe had finally gotten a fix on Glory's position, and he discovered that she was in the aptly named town of Home, Kansas. When he realised that it was less than 500 miles from where the USAF were keeping their Stargate, Xander had momentarily considered changing his plan slightly to accommodate that, but once again remembered that the last thing they needed was to bring the military into the equation, and kept to original plan of using the Gate in Antarctica.

"Hey, Xander," Cole said quietly as he sat down beside him, bringing Xander out of his thoughts, "I think you better get a move on, otherwise the female contingent will want to remove Little Xander."

"Little Xander ain't so little," Xander replied with a smirk, even as he agreed with Cole's suggestion.

"I don't want to know," Cole told him with a shudder, "but I will if you don't do pull the lead out."

Xander looked up and saw that the women, Buffy and Joyce in particular, were pacing around the room and outside hallway, while the men were sitting and watching them with equal amounts of trepidation and amusement. Piper and Paige were also in the female contingent, having returned from the Elders realm with Leo about an hour ago.

Leo was still not up to much, if anything, but he was walking around okay and so they had tentatively agreed that he could go with them, under the understanding that he would remain at the back of the group with Joyce. Leo had initially tried to haggle, but one look from Piper made him realise that discretion was the better part of valour and had agreed to their terms.

Xander sighed, stretched out his muscles, and then cleared his throat softly. Despite how quietly he did it, the noise was enough to attract the attention of the pacing women, and their eyes all trained on him, their thoughts clear in their expressions.

"Alright," Xander began, "I know that you are all itching to get going, and I appreciate your patience." There was a snort at that, and Cordelia elbowed Gunn for it. "As I told you before, Glory cannot begin the ritual required to open the portal until tomorrow night, but we're not going to wait until then before rescuing Dawn, so there's no need to panic. Thanks to the globe, we now know where she is, and we'll be travelling there in just a moment, but you have to be aware that we cannot just go in all guns blazing."

"We know that, Xander," Buffy told him, her tone more than a little tense, "but you can't expect me to just sit back and do nothing if I see the bitch, do you?"

"Of course not," he told her, knowing that it wouldn't matter if he did as she'd do it anyway, "but just because she was on her own when she took Dawn, doesn't mean that she'll be alone now. Once I knew where Glory was, I began to scan the local area to see what else we might run into. There seems to be a lot of demonic activity in the local area, far more than I would expect to find given were she is, so my best guess is that being a Hell Goddess has its advantages, and that she's managed to call in some reinforcements."

"I would imagine that word has also gotten out concerning the demise of the Source," Wesley commented. "It wouldn't take too long for the demonic community to realise that we would be going after Glory, so there may be a few demons lying in wait to gain some measure of vengeance for their fallen master."

"While the Source was in charge, I doubt that there will be many that are upset he's dead," Cole told him, "as most demons would have readily taken his place if given the opportunity, including myself before my priorities changed. However, being able to say that you were the one that defeated the people that defeated the Source would go a long way in helping a demon's bid to assume control."

"So it's fair to say that we'll need to get the lay of the land before we attempt any rescue, to minimise the chance of casualties," Giles pointed out. "It would also be prudent to perform any rescue attempt during the day, as while most demons that had been under the Source's purview aren't affected by sunlight, Glory's status as an independent means that we might also encounter demons that those of us from Sunnydale and Los Angeles are more acquainted with."

"Why worry? Xander can just wave his hand and make them all go away, like that Clue guy on Star Trek," Cordelia said as though it were obvious.

Xander rolled his eyes at Cordelia's comment. "That's Q, Cor, not Clue," he corrected her. "Anyway, whether I can do something like that is irrelevant; it's whether I should that is."

"This is Dawn we're talking about here, Xander," Buffy interjected, taking Xander's comment to mean he didn't want to help, despite all signs to the contrary. "How can you say you won't help?"

"He didn't say that he wouldn't help," Willow corrected her, which surprised most of the room, and especially Xander, that she would speak up in his defence against the blonde Slayer, "he said he wasn't sure that he should destroy a small army of demons just because he can."

"What's the difference?" Buffy asked, her desire to see her sister safe clouding her mind.

"I'm a prime example of what happens when you start using your abilities just because you can," Willow told her, "and it isn't a road I'd want anyone to travel, because by the time you realise your destination isn't somewhere you want to go, it's already too late to turn around and head somewhere else."

"The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, Buffy," Xander explained, his tone and expression showing the group he hated that he had to restrict himself from doing what he wanted. He also felt hurt that Buffy would think he didn't want to help, but knew that it was her emotions talking, not her. "I can't run the risk of using my powers like that 'for the greater good' as, and this is no boast, there simply isn't anyone or anything, not including Lucifer and God, that could stop me if I stepped over the line. I can't, and I won't take that chance."

"I know that you won't jeopardise Dawn's safety, Xander," Joyce assured him, knowing that he would need to hear it, and also to prevent Buffy from saying something that might destroy the progress she'd made in getting Xander back in her life. "I wouldn't want you to do anything that would put you in too much risk; I won't sacrifice one of my children for the sake of another."

"Thank you," Xander said softly, and went over to hug the Summers matriarch. She'd already told him that she thought of him as a son, but it was something he didn't think he would ever get tired of hearing.

"Listen, while I love a good Hallmark moment as much as the next man," Gunn said cutting in, "is there any way we can get going? I don't do well just sitting around."

"Sure," Xander said, holding back a smile. He could tell that Gunn really didn't like being around when things got emotional, and was more of an action oriented guy. It did help to bring them back to the topic at hand, however, which was a bonus. "Everyone grab what you need, as we'll be going in five minutes."

Everyone immediately made themselves busy, grabbing weapons and spell components, and while they were distracted Xander took the opportunity to have a quick chat with Joyce.

"I know this is a stupid question, but how are you feeling?" he asked softly as they watched everyone bustling about.

"As well as can be expected," Joyce replied, biting back the retort that it was indeed a stupid question to ask, as she knew that Xander was only worried about her and wasn't sure what else he could say. "I've had one of my daughters abducted three times in the past week, so I take the fact that I'm functioning at all to be a good sign. I'm sure that if you hadn't forced the issue I'd be feeling a lot worse though," she added, letting him know that she didn't hold a grudge for what he did, "and I would have probably been in no fit state to be of any use, not that I will be anyway."

"I won't deny that the rest did you, and everyone, good," Xander said with a small grin, accepting her tacit apology, "but saying that you will be unable to help us is not entirely true. I do have a way for you to be able to help, but I doubt that Buffy will be all that happy about it."

"Buffy needs to learn that I am the parent, and therefore I don't need her permission or blessing," Joyce told him firmly, having realised some time ago that her eldest daughter did have a tendency to think that, because she knew someone, she was entitled to have a say in the way they led their lives. "That said, what are you talking about?"

Xander showed her the medallion that he had made for her. "This will, in layman's terms, make you a Slayer for 24 hours. Now, before you say anything," he went on as he saw Joyce about to comment, "I'm not suggesting that you be a part of the actual rescue, as whether you need her blessing or not, Buffy will make my life a living hell if I did. What I am suggesting is that this will enable you to better defend yourself if anything were to get past us, and to help protect Dawn once you have her back."

"How does it work?" Joyce asked as she looked at the aesthetically pleasing medallion and took in what Xander just told her.

"You put it on, and when you say a certain phrase it will activate," he replied simply. "It will only work the once, another precaution to ensure I'm not turned into a eunuch by your eldest daughter, so you'd need to be careful not to activate it until you actually needed it, not that I'm expecting it to take longer than 24 hours to do what we have to. I've also made one for Cordelia, Gunn and Dawn..."

"No," Joyce said softly but forcefully, interrupting him. "Dawn does not get one of these, at least not yet. I know that there might come a time when she will want to help you, Buffy and the others, but she is still young, too young to fully understand what it would mean for her, and to appreciate the risks involved."

"Alright, that's fine," Xander acquiesced, knowing that it was her decision. He had a feeling she might say something like that when he told her, but he had to give her the option at least. "I can alter it to work for someone else if necessary. I take it that means you want to use the medallion?" he asked.

"I want to be able to protect my daughters, and if this will help, then of course I want to use it. There won't be any ill effects from using it, will there?" she asked delicately, not wanting Xander to think she thought he would put her at unnecessary risk.

"No; it might be an idea to take a few moments after you activate it to get used the sensation, and the same when the power runs out, but otherwise it's as safe as I can make it. As I said, I'm not expecting you to need it, but I'd rather err on the side of caution." Xander handed the medallion to Joyce, but stopped her from putting it on just yet. "Before you put it on, I better tell you the phrase needed to activate it; 'By the power of Grayskull'."

"I sometimes wonder if everything you've gone through recently has changed you, and then you do something to prove that you haven't changed much at all," Joyce teased, and smiled as Xander ducked his head a little.

"I wanted to make sure it would be something you wouldn't say by accident," he defended weakly.

"The important thing is that you believe that," she told him with a smirk as she put the medallion on, once again admiring how beautiful it looked. "Have you ever thought of going into the designer business?" Joyce asked him. "These would sell quite well, even without the hidden extras."

"Not really," he replied honestly, "but I don't even have to work at all anymore if I don't want to."

"Why's that?" Joyce wondered, unaware in any other changes in Xander's life.

"Let's just say that the Source wasn't a pauper and leave it at that for the moment."

Joyce was tempted to pry a little deeper, but wasn't given the chance as the others had all prepared what they wanted to bring and were now waiting to go.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen," Xander began as he turned to the group, "this is your captain speaking. Please note that the fasten seatbelt sign is now illuminated, and please ensure that all seats are in their upright position. In the event of an emergency, you will find the emergency exits..."

"Xander!" Cordelia snapped, even as the others laughed slightly.

"Yes?" he replied innocently.

"Just get on with it, doofus."

"Get on with what?" he asked, honestly confused. "We're already here."

Everyone looked around and realised that he was right and that they were no longer in the mansion. Xander's ability to just move from place to place without there being any transition period would definitely take some getting used to.

"You know, it makes a change for someone else to do the transporting," Leo said with a smile, Cole nodding in agreement. They were just as unnerved by the almost instantaneous trip, but their own experience allowed them to notice that they had.

"Um, excuse me, but what time is it?" Wesley asked uncertainly.

"About 4," Gunn replied, "why? You forget to tape something?"

"Well, I could be mistaken, but shouldn't it be lighter than this?" he said, indicating the darkness surrounding them.

They had all been so surprised in the sudden change in location, that they hadn't noticed that, instead of the sunshine they'd expected in Kansas, it was as black as, well, night.

"You guys stay here for a minute," Xander said to the group, "I'm going to check something out." With that, Xander disappeared from sight, only to return a few moments later. "The affect ends at the town limits. I don't see there being any sunshine in the near future."

"Well, it looks like a daytime assault is no longer an option," Giles pointed out, somewhat unnecessarily, "which means we'll be dealing with the full contingent of whatever demons are allied with Glory."

"No, really?" Cordelia replied sarcastically.

"Look, the moment we arrived here they knew about it, as between us we're sending out enough signals to make even the most idiotic of demons take notice, so our situation hasn't really changed," Xander told them, butting in before any bickering started. "I brought us to the opposite side of the town to Glory and the others so we had it a little time to prepare, but obviously we will not have the element of surprise like we did last night against the Source. To help out, I have these," Xander pulled out two medallions, "for Gunn and Cordelia that will help keep the odds in our favour."

"You do realise that this does not go with my outfit," Cordelia complained even as she placed the medallion around her neck, Gunn following suit. "So what is this gizmo supposed to do?"

"Make you both into lean, mean, demon fighting machines."

"Hey, I'm already a lean, mean, demon fighting machine," Gunn told him with a grin, "so this'll be useless."

"If you say so, but this will make you as fast, strong and agile as either Buffy or Angel. Of course, if you don't want to use it..."

"Hey now, I never said that," Gunn said hastily as he backed up a step out of Xander's reach to ensure he couldn't take it back. "I gotta say that I don't feel all that different."

"They're not activated yet; you need to say 'By the power of Grayskull'."

"By the power of Grayskull?" Gunn repeated incredulously, only to have his body suddenly enveloped in a purple glow for a moment before returning to normal. "Whoa, what a rush," he said as he looked at himself, obviously trying to see if there had been any physical changes.

"God, you are such a geek," Cordelia sniped, although after seeing Gunn start pulling off moves that would make Bruce Lee envious, she also said the phrase to activate the medallion.

Xander looked over to Joyce and shook his head marginally, indicating that she not activate her medallion just yet. He didn't want her to use it unless absolutely necessary, if only for his own safety after the fact. Also, by Joyce not using the medallion unless required, Buffy will have less reason to complain about it when she finds out that she has one.

"Okay, Cole and I will go in first, " Xander began, reiterating the plan, "as we can do the most damage, and Belthazor's rep might cause them to hesitate enough for us to get the first couple of shots in. Giles, Wesley and Gunn will be with the Charmed Ones in the second wave, and Cole will join you once I've gotten Glory's attention. Willow and Tara will keep back and supply support where required, and Joyce, you'll stay with Leo at the back, where Buffy, Cordelia and Paige will be bringing Dawn. Once you've got her, signal the others and then high tail it back to Frisco, and I'll deal with what's left."

He knew that putting Cordelia with Buffy and Paige was a change from what they had originally planned, but Xander could see how badly she wanted to be in the group to rescue Dawn, and with her enhancements there was no reason why she couldn't. Willow and Tara should be fine on their own at the rear of the group, and if things did get hairy and a few demons got past the main group, between their magic and Joyce's medallion they should be able to at least hold out for reinforcements, and if absolutely necessary Leo could orb them to safety.

As they walked through the streets of Home, they weren't surprised to find them empty; night-time in the middle of the day would be enough to spook most people, and as they weren't as used to strangeness as the residents of Sunnydale, they would have noticed the larger demonic presence and quickly realised that it wasn't all that safe to leave their houses at the moment. While Xander felt for them, knowing how terrified they must feel, it did make their job a little easier, as they didn't have the general public to worry about on top of everything else, so the chances of an innocent being caught in the crossfire were slim.

As the group got closer to Glory's location, they started to come in contact with demons; the Halliwell sisters had their first encounter with a vampire, and the Sunnydale gang had a High School Prom flashback as they dealt with a couple of Hellhounds. The closer they got, the more demons blocked their path, and Cole decided this was a perfect opportunity to let off a little steam, and morphed into Belthazor. The sisters weren't too happy about it, although Paige was more curious than anything else, but they knew that they had to trust Cole to know what he was doing, and so kept their objections to themselves.

As they neared the farm that Glory had taken over as her base of operations, Xander moved his way over to Buffy. "Here's a small tracking device that's keyed into Dawn's energy signature," he murmured quietly, mindful that the others were still unaware of the exact origin of the youngest Summers girl.

Buffy took the device gratefully, knowing that it would make their job a helluvalot easier now that they didn't have to search blindly for her. "Xander, if you think at any time that you can't take her, leave Glory in Antarctica and come back. I've just got you back in my life, I don't want to run the risk of losing you again."

"You know that if I do that, she'll just keep coming back, again and again, until she gets Dawn and succeeds in opening the portal," Xander explained. "I have to stop her, no matter the risk to myself."

"Just..." Buffy trailed off for a moment and looked down at the ground, and when she spoke again Xander could hear a hitch in her voice. "Just make sure you come back to us." She looked up at him. "To me."

Xander could see something in her eyes that he hadn't thought would ever be directed at him, at least not without some outside interference, and while he was more than happy to see it there, it was still too soon for him to act on it. They had only just begun to rebuild their friendship, and that foundation needed to be far more solid than it was at the moment before they could even begin to think about trying to build anything on it, but that look just made Xander more determined to ensure that it eventually happened.

"I don't plan on going anywhere for a long time, Buffy," he assured her, "so there's nothing to worry about."

Xander could see that Buffy was disappointed that he didn't respond as she had hoped, but he didn't want to send her mixed signals, and this was a conversation that needed a lot more time than they currently had at the moment. His choices were cut short when they finally reached the farm and found that the demons that had been getting in the way were just the tip of the iceberg, and that they had a big fight on their hands.

Xander and Cole quickly moved to the front of the group and, not bothering with the usual banter, began firing energy balls left and right, the others soon joining into the fray. Once they were sure that the majority of demons had their attention focussed on Xander and the others, Buffy, Paige and Cordelia made their way around the side of the farm, Buffy having used the tracking device Xander had given her to discern that Dawn was being kept in a small barn at the rear of the property.

While Buffy wanted to get some serious payback for Glory taking Dawn, she was uncharacteristically reticent to get caught up in fighting the few demons that tried to get in their way, and left most of them in the now more than capable hands of Cordelia, who unsurprisingly to Buffy revelled in her temporary Slayer status, and Paige also helped out by putting the fire spell she'd used before to good use. Buffy remembered, vaguely, when Cordelia had stared down one of the Gorch brothers, making him believe that she was actually Faith, and had known back then that if Cordelia were ever to be Chosen, she would be formidable, and she was definitely proving her correct right now.

If any demon got close enough to be within striking distance of her, Buffy did deal with it, but with a ruthless efficiency that was normally lost on her. While she still moaned about her lack of choices concerning her 'Calling', Buffy would admit that she enjoyed herself when she was in the zone, and would often prolong a fight beyond what was necessary, and sometimes even beyond what was safe. Now, however, her only focus was on taking her sister home, and she didn't have the time to enjoy herself.

When they finally reached the barn, warning bells rang in Buffy's head when there was no sign of Glory, or anyone else, protecting Dawn. Her sister was tied to a chair in the middle of the barn, gagged and blindfolded with a set of headphones on, which Buffy's enhanced hearing could tell was playing white noise. That would explain why Dawn was thrashing around in the chair, as nobody could stand that noise for too long before trying to find some way of escaping it.

Buffy didn't know why Glory had done that to Dawn, although she guessed that her sister had been as annoying to the Hell Goddess as she was to her at times, and a sense of pride filled her as she realised that Dawn had fought Glory however she could for as long as she could. They would bicker and squabble like any other sisters did, but Buffy loved Dawn more than anything, and would defend her to the death and beyond.

Although the warning bells were still ringing, Buffy knew she had little choice but to go in, so after indicating for Cordelia and Paige to wait outside, she cautiously ventured inside the barn and over to Dawn. She quickly removed the headphones and blindfold, and then had to move back sharply as Dawn's head snapped forward, obviously in an effort to head butt her.

"Dawn," Buffy said softly, mindful that she was probably a little disorientated, "it's me, Buffy."

It took a moment for Dawn to process Buffy's words, but when she did she ceased her struggling and opened her eyes. "Buffy," she said horsely, her throat dry from thirst.

"Yeah, it's me, Dawnie," Buffy assured her as she began to remove her bonds, "and I'm going to get you out of here."

"Now, Ms. Summers," a voice from above her said, "I don't think that Her Gloriousness will be pleased if you left with her Key."

Buffy looked up towards the source of the voice, and saw a dark figure drop down behind Dawn about ten feet away. From the voice she'd been able to tell that they were male and getting on in years, and once they were in the light it had been confirmed. He looked like a kindly old gentleman, but Buffy had learned early on that appearances can be deceiving, she herself a prime example of that.

"I couldn't care less what that bitch wants; I'm taking my sister out of here, and there's nothing you can do about it," she told him defiantly as she moved into a better fighting position.

Buffy was suddenly hit in the face with something, and a gash appeared on her right cheek. She tracked the object as it returned to the figure, and shuddered as she saw it was his tongue.

"Buffy!" Dawn shouted in concern, and rushed over to her sister, who suddenly didn't look as steady on her feet as she had been a moment before.

"Oh dear," he said with mock concern, "that does look like a nasty scratch. Why don't you let old Doc have a look at it."

The commotion inside attracted the attention of Cordelia and Paige, who rushed in and took up defensive positions between the Summers sisters and Doc. "Who are you, Hugh Hefner's father?" Cordelia asked insultingly, indicating the clothing the demon had on.

"Who I am is of no concern of yours, young lady," Doc told her haughtily, "but if you don't move out of the way and give me the Key, my name will be the least of your worries."

As Cordelia was about to go over and explain who the hell he was talking to, she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Buffy looking at her, a little worse for wear, but with a look of determination on her face that would not be denied.

"You and Paige get Dawn back to mom," she told her, her eyes darkening even more as she looked over at Doc, "this one's mine."

Cordelia reluctantly agreed, and went over to Dawn and Paige, who took their hands and orbed them away. Seeing that Dawn was now safe, at least for the moment, Buffy turned her attention to the deceptively gentile looking demon. "It's time I sent you to meet the other six dwarves."

Before Doc had time to say anything, Buffy leapt into battle.

* * *

Xander was worried; they were taking care of the demons that wanted to separate every part of them from every other part of them, but there had so far been no visible sign of Glory. The reason he was worried was that he could feel that she was nearby, very nearby in fact, and yet he simply could not see her.

He knew she'd rear her head eventually, as she'd want to get him and the others out of the way so they couldn't interfere again in her plans, but the last thing he needed was for her to get in the first blow, as he knew that she would not be holding back now that she was so close to her ultimate goal.

It had been somewhat disconcerting when Xander had discovered that she had been holding back considerably in their last altercation, and it was only because she felt it was beneath her to do something so menial as fight. She had made an exception for retrieving 'her' Key, or for retrieving information on its whereabouts, but otherwise she pretty much left everything up to her minions.

Now, with only a day before she could finally go home, Xander knew that Glory would pull out all the stops, and he needed to be prepared to do the same if he wanted to survive, let alone defeat her. He also had to make sure that he transported them both to Antarctica as soon as possible, to minimise the chances of collateral damage.

He suddenly felt her presence extremely close by and, trusting his instincts, struck out at what looked like thin air and was gratified to hear the smack of skin impacting against skin, and the glamour that Glory had been using to remain unnoticed ended as her concentration was lost. Xander was further gratified to see that she had been knocked back several feet, and that her fall had been broken by an unfortunate vampire that had been unable to move out of the way in time.

"That actually hurt, you damnable primate!" Glory screamed at him as she got back on her feet. She turned and kicked the vampire that had 'caught' her in the head with such force that it was ripped off its shoulders, the rest turning to dust instantly.

"It was meant to, you stupid bitch!" Xander snapped in reply. "And by the way," he added with a smirk, "your ass looks huge in that dress!"

That comment had the desired effect, and Glory came at him in a rage, completely ignoring everyone and everything else. It was a risky strategy, but the last thing he needed was for her to try and use the others against him, and if she went after them like she would with him, they wouldn't stand a chance.

Just how risky the tactic could be was proven a moment later, as Glory had moved faster than he had counted on and had landed a double handed blow before he had a chance to dodge or block it.

Xander could honestly say he had never been hit as hard as she had just done, and knew that if she had hit him like that the first time they met, he'd most surely be dead now. Angry with himself for not anticipating how fast she would be, he unleashed his anger at her even as he stumbled backwards, taking a leaf out of Palpatine's book and sent a bolt of lightning at her.

It stuck her dead centre, and a grim smile could be seen on his face as she began to scream, first in annoyance as her dress began to disintegrate from the heat, and later in agony as Xander kept up the pressure as he continued to move closer to her. He was annoyed that, while the attack was causing her an extreme amount of pain, it wasn't actually doing a great deal lot of damage, but there was also an ulterior motive to it, so it wasn't a complete waste.

Although Xander didn't need to be in contact with someone to take them with him when he teleported, he knew that Glory was strong enough to be able to resist being taken along unless he was actually touching her, otherwise he would have already done so. That was why he hadn't let up with the electrical attack, as she hadn't been able to counteract it yet, and it gave him the opportunity to get close enough to grab her.

He didn't hesitate; the moment he was close enough, Xander grabbed onto Glory with all his might and teleported them both to Antarctica.

* * *

Joyce wasn't sure how many more times she would be able to take experiencing the all encompassing fear of having one of her children abducted, especially after the last few days. Buffy had been abducted once, Dawn twice, and whenever one was returned to her safely, the other seemed to be nowhere in sight.

This time it was Buffy who was nowhere to be seen; when Paige and Cordelia showed up in the now familiar shower of blue lights with Dawn in tow, she had been over the moon and had crushed her to her bosom, but her radiant smile quickly turned into a frown when she noticed that Buffy wasn't with them.

"Where's Buffy?" Joyce asked the pair, Dawn crying too hard to be of any use in the matter.

"There was someone there who was going to try and stop us from leaving with Dawn, so Buffy stayed behind to deal with them, and give us time to get her out of there," Paige told her, and decided not to tell her that Buffy hadn't looked 100 when they left.

"I bet she'll be along anytime Mrs S.," Cordelia added reassuringly, although she too thought it better not to mention that Buffy didn't look her best.

Cordelia didn't like Buffy, never had and probably never will, but she felt guilty about leaving her behind to fight that demon, especially as she was obviously affected by something, probably to do with that wound she had on her face. The trouble was that she'd seen the look that had been on Buffy's face before, and knew that she had made her decision and would not be swayed without extreme prejudice, and while she now had the power to back her up if she'd decided to force the issue, Cordelia wasn't sure she could have actually beat her, something she would only ever admit to herself, and even then only reluctantly.

"She better," Joyce growled, "because quite frankly I have had just about enough of worrying about her all the time."

"I would be more worried about myself if I were you," a voice warned menacingly from behind her.

Before any of them had a chance to react, they were jumped by a gang of around a dozen or so vampires, who managed to tackle Leo, Paige and Cordelia to the ground before they had a chance to mount a defence, and the vamps proved to be smarter than they looked by gagging Paige before she could mutter the words to the flame spell she had been using to such great effect.

They were clearly having a problem keeping Cordelia down, as her boosted strength and her natural determination came to the fore, but while they were having problems she wasn't actually succeeding in getting loose.

Those that weren't keeping Paige and Cordelia subdued began to circle Joyce and Dawn, and were clearly trying to intimidate her, but they were dealing with someone who could make some of the most powerful people nervous with a look, so they had no chance of intimidating her, especially as she had a little surprise for them.

"Your friends are cutting a swathe through the demons around here," the leader told her, taking a page out of the Bond villain handbook as he explained their plan to the good guys, "and we have no intention of joining them, so we're going to force them to let us go, or we'll kill you."

Joyce looked at them all defiantly, and the vampires had to admit that the smile she sent their way made them suddenly feel nervous for some reason. "I only have one thing to say to that," she said softly, that smile still in place.

"And what's that, bitch?" the leader asked in disdain.

Joyce's eyes flashed at the insult, as it had been a long time since someone called her that, and her smile became a savage grin as she felt the maternal instinct to protect her family kick in. "By the power of Grayskull."

Before the vampires had a chance to realise that the glow that had enveloped her briefly didn't bode well for them, Joyce decided to show them that you should never piss off a mother and charged.

* * *

Buffy was flagging, and both she and Doc knew it. Her decision to take on Doc alone was, in hindsight, not the wisest decision she'd ever made, especially as the blow he'd struck with his tongue, a thought that still made her shudder, must have infected her with a poison of some kind. Doc was using it to his full advantage, and was displaying that underneath that mild mannered shell was an accomplished fighter, and was, quite frankly, handing Buffy's ass to her.

Buffy knew that if she didn't find some way to end this now, she'd be the one ended, and so decided to go against the grain and follow the training that Giles had given her and focus more on her skill than on her power. Buffy had tried to overpower Doc from the beginning, and it had only served to tire herself out faster, so using her head and actually giving some thought on how to survive this, beyond simply running away, was her only choice.

She began to dodge and weave the blows that Doc sent her way, and she finally realised that, while he was obviously able to fight, he hadn't learnt to vary his attacks to keep an opponent guessing about what he was going to do next. Because of that, the task of evading his strikes became easier to do, as she could tell what he was going to do, even before he did himself. He had even tried to strike her with his tongue again, which she had fortunately been able to avoid, as she wasn't sure she could handle a second dose of whatever she already had in her system, and now she was waiting for him to try it again.

She didn't have to wait long; Doc was soon frustrated with Buffy's change in tactics, and went to strike her again with the poisonous barbs on the end of his tongue. To say he was surprised when Buffy caught his tongue would be an understatement, but that was nothing compared to what he felt when Buffy snapped her hand back away from him so fast that she ripped his tongue right out.

Doc fell to his knees in pain, and began to choke as his mouth and throat began to fill with blood and poison. Buffy took that as the opportunity she needed to go and grab the pair of sickles she'd noticed hanging on the far wall and, without the usual quips, sliced his head off.

As she watched Doc's remains dissolve into nothingness, Buffy ran out of adrenaline and the poison in her system finally got the better of her and she dropped to the floor unconscious.

* * *

As Joyce plunged her stake into the final vampire's heart, she began to realise what it was that Buffy seemed to like about the slaying business, as she had never felt as invigorated. After her initial charge, which had take then vampires and Dawn by complete surprise, Leo and Paige had used the distraction to their advantage and orbed out of the grasp of the vampires holding them down, and then pried the vampires holding Cordelia off her.

After that, it hadn't taken long for the quartet to deal with the vampires, although it had to be said that Joyce killed the majority of them. The others didn't know whether Xander had put a little bit extra into her medallion, or whether it had been the threat on Dawn's life that had done it, but Joyce had gone at them like a woman possessed, and the first vampire to bear the brunt of her wrath had eventually been staked by Cordelia just to put the poor bastard out of its misery, as Joyce had seemingly forgotten that vampires can't be killed just by beating them to a pulp.

Once Cordelia had tossed Joyce a stake and reminder her, gently, that she needed to stake them in order to kill them, she had soon gotten the hang of it, and had proven that Buffy had gotten her fire and dogged determination from her mother.

"Mom, that was so cool!" Dawn exclaimed once they were once again demon free, at least for the moment.

"Thank you dear," Joyce replied as she tried to make her hair a little more presentable, "I have to admit that I got a little carried away there."

"Given the circumstances, I think we can understand why," Leo assured her. "When did Xander give you one of those medallions?"

"Before we left; he wanted to make sure I could defend myself if it became necessary," Joyce explained.

"Well, I think we can safely say that it worked," Cordelia commented with a little smile, still feeling a little awestruck at what she had just witnessed.

"Is there still no sign of Buffy?" Joyce asked after a moment.

"No," Paige replied, and shared a quick look with Cordelia. "I'll go back and see what's going on."

"Thank you," Joyce said gratefully, and received a smile in return before Paige orbed away.

* * *

"You know, if you were a gentleman you'd offer me your jacket," Glory told Xander as she went to kick him in the stomach.

"And why the hell would I do that?" Xander replied as he caught her foot and forced her to spin round. "I'm cold as well."

"But at least you're not naked!" she groused as she followed through on the spin and caught him with a roundhouse that sent him sliding across the ice.

Xander had to admit that he was enjoying the view; since they'd arrived in Antarctica, the pair had been duking it out, and he'd been surprised in her proficiency, especially after she'd taken off her stilettos. Hell Goddess or not, he couldn't deny that she was a looker, and seeing her in her birthday suit bouncing around, which caused things to jiggle in a very enticing way had distracted him a little, had gotten him a punch to the jaw for his trouble.

"True," he agreed with a leer that only went to frustrate her further, "but after I send you to Hell you'll be toasty warm, so you've got nothing to worry about."

His plan to use the Stargate to get rid of her has so far been harder to accomplish that he had first thought, as not only did he need her to be in a certain place, he also had to time activating the wormhole just right, as he knew he wouldn't get a second shot because she'd realise what he was up to. He had already seen a flicker of recognition when she had first seen the metallic ring, but as there didn't deem to be a dialling device around he doubted she was aware he could activate it.

He couldn't afford to use the same tactic against Glory that he'd used on the Source, as the cavern they were in was simply not stable enough to sustain itself long enough to allow him to do the job. One advantage he did have was that, unlike the Source, Glory could be affected by his magic, which he had put to good use the moment they had arrived and had erected a shield around himself that would absorb 80 of the damage Glory inflicted on him, although for anyone else it would have been 100. The 20 that he did feel was still enough to make him realise that Glory was more than a pretty face and a psychotic brain.

They continued to trade blows, Glory's godhood more than balancing out Xander's mystical abilities, although Xander still had a few more tricks up his sleeve. He'd been winging it so far when it came to how to battle her so far, as he'd had little time, or intel, to devise a strategy, but he'd been winging things like this all of his life so it wasn't exactly a unique experience for him.

His lack of focus cost him for a moment, as Glory caught him with a hard kick to the chest which sent him crashing into the cavern wall with enough force to crack it. That was not a good thing, as that crack grew and soon began to destabilise the entire structure. The ground began to shake, and even worse for Xander's plans, the Stargate began to wobble, and then it fell onto its back.

Even as he began to curse like a sailor in his mind, he had to concentrate on Glory, who decided to step things up a gear now that things were falling apart all around them. With the noise within the cavern almost deafening, he knew that this was his last, best chance to activate the Gate, and decided to pick a desolate planet as the destination, just in case he couldn't get her with the event horizon and had to push her through.

Then, just as he began to think that he'd have to make a big sacrifice to ensure the safety of his family, lady luck decided to shine on him, in a roundabout way. He had been trying to drive Glory back towards the Gate, but she'd caught his arm and threw him over it to the opposite end of the cavern. In her anger, she was too focused on beating him to a pulp so she could make her way back to her Key that she didn't see the lights on the Gate light up as she went to leap offer it, and was caught in the wash as the wormhole connected.

What surprised Xander was that a body continued through the wash, but it wasn't Glory, but a man that Xander didn't recognise. He couldn't sense any godhood in him, or anything else for that matter; he was a normal human male. A normal, naked male that was going to die of hypothermia if he didn't get him somewhere warmer. Deciding that he could work on the mystery just as easily in America as he could there, and with the cavern finally falling down around him, Xander picked the guy up and teleported back to Home.

* * *

Paige arrived in the barn to find the remains of the demon Buffy had been fighting decomposing into nothingness, and Buffy falling bonelessly to the floor,completely spent. She immediately rushed over to her and gently turned her over, and saw that her face had swollen up on the right side of her face, and that it had actually started to decay. Paige couldn't imagine the pain Buffy must have been in, and yet she still managed to somehow kill the demon.

She wasted no time in healing Buffy, or at least trying to; whatever it was that the demon had injected her with was somehow blocking her healing abilities, and she was only able to stop its spread, not reverse its effects. Knowing that she needed more help, Paige orbed them both back to where Leo and the others were.

"Leo," she said urgently, "I need you help; I can't heal her."

Leo immediately went over and joined Paige, adding his own healing abilities to hers. They could feel that the poison was beginning to be purged from her system, but it was taking a long time, maybe more time than Buffy's body had. The stress it had been put under, birth by the poison and by the battle she'd just been in, had taken its toll, and there was a serious risk that the body would give out before they could do enough to save her.

Joyce and Dawn looked on as the two Whitelighters fought to keep Buffy alive, and they could tell from their faces that they weren't winning. They clung to each other desperately, Joyce having to be careful not to hug too hard for fear of hurting her younger daughter, and both began to pray to whoever was listening to save Buffy.

Things got worse as they could see Leo visibly tiring, as he simply hadn't healed up enough himself to strain himself as he was. Soon Leo was barely helping Paige at all, and eventually slumped to the ground beside her, having passed out from exhaustion. That left Paige where she'd been before, in a stalemate with the toxin running through Buffy's system, and Buffy's body slowly giving out from the strain.

By now, the rest of the group had arrived, having dealt with the army of demons that had been waiting for them, and they circled the two women, separating them from the rest of the world and hoping that their presence could in some way bolster Paige and help her win the battle for Buffy's life.

"What's going on?"

Everyone, apart from Paige and Buffy of course, turned to the source of the voice and saw Xander standing there with a naked man on his shoulders. If the current situation weren't so dire, they knew that they would have all been laughing their asses off over the sight, but there wouldn't be any more laughter for a while. Xander looked through them and could see what was going on, and was beside Paige a moment later, having passed the male he had with him to Angel and Wesley as he passed.

"I can't heal her," Paige said through gritted teeth, sweat pouring off her brow, "I'm holding the toxin back, but she's already gone through too much. I can't..."

"Oh hell no," Xander stated forcefully, cutting in before she voiced aloud what the others were thinking, "that's not happening, not while I have breath left in me."

Xander knelt down and moved Paige aside, laying his own hands on Buffy and closing his eyes in concentration. A green glow seeped from Xander's hands and enveloped Buffy's, similar to the way it had when Angel had been injured. After a few moments, the glow seemed to shrink until it was focussed around Buffy's exposed abdomen, where it seemed to rise and fill with a black, viscous substance. Once the glowing ball was filled with the liquid, it rose from Buffy's body and then vanished.

"Have another go at healing her Paige," he told her, "I've removed the poison, but I can't heal her."

Paige immediately placed her hands on Buffy and once again began to heal her, and this time she was able to do so.

Buffy sucked in a large lungful of air as her eyes suddenly snapped open and focussed on Xander. "Hey," she greeted softly.

"Hey yourself," he replied with a smile. "I'm gone a few minutes and you manage to get yourself into trouble."

"Not my fault," she told him immediately, "extenuating circumstances."

"Yeah, yeah, I've hard that one before," he groused playfully.

Their conversation was cut short as Joyce and Dawn rushed over and began to hug the life out of Buffy, and Buffy was surprised by how strong her mom was. "Hey, mom, have you been eating a lot of spinach lately?"

Joyce looked at her daughter with an odd expression on her face. "No, why do you ask?"

"Well, it feels like you're hugging me hard enough to crack ribs," she explained, which caused Joyce to lighten up a little, "and your hugs haven't felt like that since I became a Slayer."

"Oh, it was so cool!" Dawn squealed. "Mom totally kicked some vampire ass!"

"What?"

"Well, you see, honey," Joyce began tentatively, not worried about what Buffy might say to her, as one look would suffice to shut her up, but she was worried by how well received her explanation would be for Xander, "Xander wanted to make sure I would be safe, so in case there was an emergency he gave me one of those medallions."

"You did what!?" Buffy shouted, shaking off her mom and Dawn so she could stand up and get in Xander's face. "How could you do that?"

"It was quite simple really; I made the medallion, went up to your mom and gave it to her."

"You know what I mean!" she growled.

"Before you get your panties in a knot," Cordelia interjected, "if he hadn't given Joyce that medallion, we might all be room temperature now. We'd been surprised by a gang of vamps, who threatened to kill us all. Me, Leo and Paige had all been taken by surprise, so your mom was the only one free. She saved our lives, so get off your damned high horse and thank the idiot for keeping your mom safe."

Buffy opened and closed her mouth a couple of times in abortive attempts to respond, and eventually took a deep, cleansing breath and turned her attention back to Xander. "Cordelia's right, and I'm sorry." she stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek, lingering a little longer than was necessary, something that everyone noticed. "Thank you."

"How come it's still dark?" Gunn asked suddenly.

"I would say that the spell had been cast to last until the alignment tomorrow," Wesley supposed, "but even if it isn't, I do not believe that those responsible will continue it now that the objective has been lost."

"We can always check it out later," Xander added, "but right now I want to get back to San Francisco and work out who the hell the naked guy is."

"Where did you pick him up, and more importantly, why is he naked?" Cordelia asked.

"When Glory was taken by the even horizon, he was left behind. The reason he's naked is, I guess, because Glory was when she died," he explained, and completely ignored the looks he was receiving from both Buffy and Cordelia.

"It would make sense that Glory had been tied to someone from this planet," Giles commented, "as it would anchor her here. It would also explain why she would need to find some alternate way of returning home, as a Goddess should normally have the ability to appear before her subjects."

"Yes, yes, that's lovely, now if you don't mind," Xander said a little frustrated, and then waved his hand and transported them all back to the manor. "Right then, lets find out who the not so ugly naked guy is."

"And lets get the poor man some clothes shall we," Giles added, knowing how embarrassed he would feel if he awoke and found himself naked amongst as many women as there were here.

While Leo went to get the man some clothes, Angel and Wesley deposited him on the couch and draped Angel's jacket over him to give him a modicum of dignity.

"I don't know about anyone else, but I'm starving; why don't Cole and I go get some takeout for everyone, and we'll work out where to go from here then," Phoebe suggested, and received a wave of nodding heads as he answer.

"Here," Xander said as he removed his wallet, "use my card."

"Don't get me wrong, Xander, as I appreciate the gesture, but are you sure you can afford it?" Cole asked delicately, knowing that Xander didn't exactly make a lot of money.

"Yeah," Xander replied, a small smile on his face, "I'm sure, and that's something else to talk about over copious amounts of food."

Cole looked at him a little oddly, but refrained to comment, instead he took the card with a nod, and then left with Phoebe to get some food.

Those that were left in the livingroom looked around at each other and shared one thought; _'where do we go from here?'_


	31. Chapter Thirty One

_**Chapter Thirty-One**_

**Halliwell Manor,  
San Francisco, California.**

The whole group were sitting in the, quite crowded, living room, eating the take out that Cole and Phoebe had gotten.

There were two people missing from the gathering, and they were Joyce and Dawn. Dawn had felt justifiably tired from her ordeal, and so had retired to bed to sleep it off, and Joyce had been more than happy to grant the request her youngest daughter had made to stay with her.

If she were honest, Joyce was also feeling tired, as it had been the first time she had taken an active role in her daughter's life, and now had a better respect for Buffy and the others for the way they had patrolled for most of the night, and had still been able to go to school/college/work during the day. The others had promised to set aside some food for the pair for when they awoke, and Prue had been kind enough to allow them the use of her room to sleep in.

Someone else who was asleep, or at least that's what the majority of them thought, was the man they had brought back, now kitted out in some clothes and lying on his side by the window. He had woken up a couple of times since their return to San Francisco, but never long enough to get any information out of him.

Angel was tucking into his food with gusto, as it had been the first time he had been able to properly appreciate a good solid meal since he'd been made human for a day last year by killing that Mohra demon. Angel sometimes wondered whether those 24 hours had all been a dream, especially as he was the only one, on this plane of existence at any rate, that knew it ever happened, and often thought it would be easier for him if he did just put it down as a vivid dream and leave it at that, especially with the way things seemed to be progressing between Buffy and Xander.

Angel was aware, of course, that the clause of the curse was no longer a problem, that there was no curse any longer in fact, ironically because of Xander's actions, so he could try to reconcile with Buffy, but it had been two years since the pair had officially split up, and if he were honest, they hadn't actually been together for a while before that. Their time apart had changed both of them, and while he still had strong feelings for Buffy, and always would in some respect, Angel had come to realise that he wasn't the right person for her.

Whether Xander **was** the one for her was a question Angel couldn't answer, at least not without bias, but more importantly it wasn't for him to answer, or anyone else for that matter, apart from Buffy herself. He knew nothing had actually happened between them yet, but he also knew that it most probably would, and while he didn't like it, Angel had no right to even attempt to do anything about it.

Xander looked down at the seemingly asleep man, once again wondering just who the hell he is and decided that it was about time to find out, so he cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"Okay," Xander began as he put his container down, "first things first; we need to deal with our guest, who has been pretending to be asleep for the past ten minutes."

Everybody turned to the man in question, who opened his eyes and had the good grace to look sheepish at being caught out.

"Sorry," the man replied, "but I wanted to figure out where the hell I was, and who the hell I was with, and listening in seemed like the best way to do it."

"Right," Xander drawled. "Well then, let's start with your name, as you've already heard all of ours, and we'll go from there."

"My name is Ben Hope," he told them all as he moved to a seated position now they knew he was awake, "and I'm a medical student, although I've had to do a lot of my work via correspondence courses, as I'm sure you can appreciate."

"Well, I'm sure that having a Goddess use you like a time share, with her being the majority shareholder, would of course make things like taking a college course problematic, not to mention the fact that it would put a crimp in your social life," Xander said dryly.

"I take it from your comment," Giles interjected, "that you were aware of your situation?" he asked.

"Wouldn't you be aware of losing hours, days, weeks of your life?" Ben asked a little heatedly, his tone indicating that he had not enjoyed the conditions he'd been living under for who knows how long. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep cleansing breath before he continued. "Was I aware? Yes. Was there anything I could have done about it? No. The only reason she let me continue my studies was because I threatened to kill myself when I had control, and as she wasn't sure what would happen to her if I did, she acceded."

"You were able to communicate with her?" Wesley asked.

"Not directly, no," Ben replied. "Her servants were always around, and they passed along messages between us when called to do so. I couldn't go anywhere without one of her cronies following me around, just in case she came back suddenly and needed something, although as they weren't exactly pleasing on the eye they had to be careful during the day, and they would also to report to her what I had been doing during her absence."

"I hate to sound callous, but when you realised your situation, why didn't you kill yourself anyway?" Gunn asked, having thought about what he would have done if found in a similar position.

"Because I wanted to live," Ben replied simply. "I had as much idea what would happen to her as she did if I were to die, although it's fair to say that we do now. For all I knew, I might have made things worse for everyone, and even if I tried, there was no guarantee I'd succeed with her minions always close by."

"How long have you been living with this?" Cole asked, his tone sympathetic.

Cole knew better than most what it was like to share your life with someone else, although he had to admit that his situation was still better than the one Ben had found himself in, and therefore could relate, at least to some extent, what Ben must have gone through.

"I had complete control of my life until I was sixteen; before then I didn't even know she existed," Ben told them. "After my sixteenth birthday, I would lose time, which now I knew was Glory gaining control, for an hour or so every couple of weeks."

"That young?" Giles said in surprise. "How did you cope?"

"Well, to begin with I was freaked, but as nothing ever seemed to happen to me during that lost time, and with the doctors finding nothing wrong with me, I just ignored it as best I could," Ben explained. "Things started getting worse after I graduated; what had started out as an hour ever week or soon increased to a day, two days at a time, and steadily increased to the point that I lost a week at a time. By then Dreg and Jinx, her two main minions, had turned up and had explained that I had the 'honour' of having 'Her Gloriousness' sharing my body."

"That must have been a terrible thing to live with," Phoebe commiserated.

"That's one way of putting it," Ben replied, his tone indicating that she had heavily understated it. He then turned to Xander, and decided that this was as good a time as any to ask a question of his own. "Not that I'm ungrateful, because believe me I'm most definitely not, but how is it that I'm still alive?"

"Well, before I get into that," Xander said, "I want to let you know that if we had known about you, I would have tried to find some way to separate the two of you before doing what I did."

"While that's comforting, I doubt you would have found anything in time to change things," Ben replied, knowing how little time they'd had before the alignment. "If you're worried that I'm holding any resentment towards you," he went on after a moment, "don't; you did what you had to do, and something I had never been able to work up the courage to do myself."

"Anyway," Xander went on, not sure how to take Ben's gratitude, "my best guess is that, while the pair of you were obviously linked in some way, you weren't actually sharing a body. Instead, I think that when one of you was here on Earth, the other was in a... holding area, outside of our plane of existence. When Glory's body was vaporised by the event horizon of that wormhole, that link was severed and you were brought back to our reality."

"That's as good a theory as any I suppose," Ben said eventually, not really having much of a clue what Xander had said, and if he were honest, he didn't really care. There was, however, something that he did care about a great deal. "Will she be back?"

"No," Xander replied quickly and firmly. "As I said before, her body was vaporised, and when that happened she completely disappeared off my radar. Even if she'd been rendered dormant, unable to retake control like she had done before, I would have been able to pick up on the link the two of you shared, as there would have been like an echo around you that depicted her presence. She's gone for good, and you are finally free to do whatever you want in life."

"Oh. Right then," Ben said softly, before his eyes rolled up into his head and he passed out.

"I think he took that well," Xander quipped as Leo went over to check on him. "Right then, now that **that's** out of the way, I think we need to talk about what to do next."

"What do you mean, what we do next?" Phoebe asked, feeling confused. "We've **won**, there's nothing left to do."

"For you maybe, but not for us," Giles pointed out. "While the Source is no more, the First is still around, albeit in a much reduced capacity."

"I'm afraid that it won't be as simple as that, Phoebe," Xander told her softly, sparing a quick glance at Leo and Cole, who had expressions that told him they had already figured out what he was going to say. "I know that this isn't something you're gonna want to hear, but you will still be seen as Champions for Light, and will still probably be required to fight."

"Why?" Piper asked. "the Source has been defeated, permanently. You should know, you were the one that did it. Our war is **over**," she stated firmly.

"If only that were true," Leo said, "but Xander is right; destroying the Source doesn't end the war, all it does is change who is in charge."

"What has any of that got to do with us?" Phoebe asked, unwilling to let go of her hope of a normal life.

"There is a very good chance that the First will eventually assume control over the Source's domain, despite not being able to take corporeal form," Xander explained, "and as the rules he had to follow regarding yourselves will be rescinded, he will target you. The difference is that he will have demons at his disposal that you will have no information on in your Book of Shadows, and your magic will be less effective against them than you're used to."

"So, what? Are you telling us that we're screwed?" Prue asked, not finding the situation to her liking at all.

"No, but you can't retire just yet either," Cole told them regretfully, knowing they wouldn't like to hear it, "as I doubt the Elders would let you even if you tried."

"Cole's right," Leo said as he left the now conscious again Ben to use the bathroom upstairs and rejoined the others. "Our belief that, once Xander had defeated the Source that the war would be over, was a fallacy. Until **all** the forces of darkness are defeated unequivocally, I cannot see the Elders, or the Powers That Be, allowing you to sit on the sidelines. Even if they did, the First would not allow you to live, just in case you ever decided to change your minds and rejoin the fight."

"So, what you're saying is that we're screwed," Prue repeated sullenly, "either by the good guys or the bad, the outcome is the same; we're only getting out of this in a pine box."

"Like you're the only ones," Buffy scoffed, having had just about enough of their moaning and complaining. "I've known pretty much from day one that the only way I'd be getting out of this gig was after my death, and not even that took for more than a minute or two. If you're real lucky, you'll get to live a long life, but all the time that there are demons on Earth, don't expect it to be normal."

"What about happiness, do we get to have that as well?" Piper asked, looking at Leo when she did.

"Piper, if it weren't for your whacked out life, you'd never have even met Leo, and Phoebe would never have met Cole," Xander reminded her. "We don't always get what we want out of life, but we **do **get to make the best of what we've got. Anyway, I think you're all forgetting something pretty important."

"And what's that?" Prue asked.

"Me," Xander replied with a small smile. "I have a feeling that no one really expected me to win, and they**really **didn't expect me to be given the purified power of the Source, not to mention the details of several different off shore bank accounts and other nest eggs he, and his predecessors, acquired over the ages. Hell, by right of succession I'm even a board member of Wolfram & Hart."

"WHAT!" The Fang Gang shouted in shock.

"You heard me; Evil Inc. is run by the Senior Partners, but who the hell do you think those Senior Partners actually are?" Xander asked, surprised that they had never thought to ask that question before. "With the power that Wolfram & Hart have at their disposal, they would not only be a threat to the good guys, but to the bad guys as well, **if**they were an independent organisation that is."

"Good God, they're run by the First and the Source, aren't they?" Angel said.

"How did you work that one out, No-Longer-Deadboy? You've gotten pretty good with the whole P.I. thing, haven't you?" Xander said sarcastically. "Of **course**they were run by the First and the Source; there's no way they'd allow anyone else to become that powerful," he told them, and his tone was enough for the others to let it lie, at least for the moment. "Anyway, getting back to the topic at hand, I think you all know I'm not just gonna sit on my ass and do nothing to help, and since I don't know how to do things half way, I fully intend to see an end to the war in my lifetime, however long that might now be. However, to do it properly, I'm going to need your help."

"Why will you need our help? You've got enough power to take them all on by yourself," Paige noted, and received nods of agreement from her sisters.

"And I'm sure they'll be kind enough to come at me in single file," Xander said in a tone that told them all quite clearly what he thought the chances were of that happening. "They're evil and I'm not, which means that if I start to go all out on them, they will try to take out as many innocents as they can, or will hold them hostage to stay my hand."

"So, what **are**you suggesting then?" Leo asked, wanting to get to the heart of the matter.

"At the end of the day, the only way we'll see an actual end to this war is to stop just reacting to whatever demon of the week decides to rear its ugly, and sometimes scaly, head, and take the fight to them," Xander told them. "I know that it isn't something that some of you want, but if you want to have a real chance at a normal life, this is the only way to do it."

"Where would we start?" Leo asked.

"Well, the first thing I'm going to do is dissolve Wolfram & Hart, which will cause havoc in all walks of life, not just the demonic community. Then I will leak information on some of the more... influential clients, human and demon alike, which will distract them all enough to keep them out of our affairs for a while. The next thing will be to go recruiting; our win against the Source will have caught the attention of demon hunting groups all over the globe, some 'official' and some not, and this would be the best time to try and unify them into a single, global task force."

"You make it sound so simple," Paige said.

"You've got to be kidding me right?" Xander replied. "There ain't nothing simple about any of this, Paige, but then again nothing worth doing should ever be easy."

"You realise that if we step up our campaign, they will do the same?" Giles asked.

"Yeah, but this is the only way we're ever going to have a chance to be free to live our lives the way we want." Xander sighed, and realised that he wasn't in the mood to try and explain it all to them, especially when they weren't ready to accept things as they are, and he wasn't prepared to argue the point. "There's going to be some tough decision that need to be made in the coming days and weeks, some that we'll like and some that we won't, but whatever happens, I'm not going to let the PTB, or the Elders, dictate to me how I'll live my life. I hope you'll do the same."

Knowing that he needed to give them time to think about the bombshells he'd just dropped on them, Xander decided that this would be a good time to have a private chat with Ben, and went off in search of him.

* * *

**Golden Gate Bridge,  
San Francisco, California.**

It had been several hours since Xander had spoken to the others, and he had spent most of that thinking about the choice he'd made, not that it had been much of a choice given the circumstances.

He'd had a talk with Ben, and realised that the young man felt responsible for a lot of what had happened with Glory. Instead of trying to persuade him otherwise, knowing that the only person that would be able to convince Ben of that would be Ben himself, Xander offered to help him make up for what he perceived to be his sins, which would also ensure that Xander could help another person that had been an innocent victim in this war. Xander had proposed to Ben that he would fund him in his quest to become a doctor, which would ensure that he could focus all his effort on studying, and in exchange, once he became a doctor Ben would then come to work for Xander.

When Ben had looked at him strangely, having no idea that Xander had the financial means to employ him, let alone support him through college, Xander gone on to give the young man a brief explanation of what he had planned, and then pointed out that the line of work Xander and the others were in was not exactly a safe one, and they could do with people that the know about what they really did that also had the skills like he would soon have, as they would not always be as lucky as they had been the last couple of weeks. He'd gone on to assure Ben that he was under no obligation to do so, and was free to do whatever he wanted, but that the offer was there if he wanted it.

Ben had thanked him for the offer, but right now he wanted to get used to being in control of his life once more, and to reconnect with his family and friends, who he'd deliberately lost contact with because of Glory. As a gesture of good will, Xander had given him enough cash to get himself a new wardrobe and a ticket to anywhere in the world, as well as his number if he ever needed anything. Ben had assured Xander that he would think about his offer and let him know his final decision sooner rather than later, and had then left the Manor, to where Xander didn't know.

After that, Xander had also left the Manor and gone for a walk, as he needed to spend some time alone so he could decompress from everything he'd gone through the past week or so. He couldn't believe that so much had happened in such a short space of time, so much in fact that he'd been unable to actually process it all.

Firstly there was Anya, who had gone from his girlfriend, and a person he had started to believe could be 'the one', to a woman who had possibly only stayed with him in the hope that she could prevent him from finding out his role in the demise of the person she really loved, the Source. Xander wouldn't ever know whether the love she had shown him had been real or fake, but he wasn't going to wallow about it, as it didn't change anything. She had betrayed him, and his friends, to the Source, and all that she had gotten for it was a quick death. While he missed her presence, as she'd become the one constant in his life the past few months, her actions had ensured that he didn't miss **her**.

Of course, that was now, but back when he'd first been told of her death at the hands of the Source, he'd completely lost it, and the Source had then taken a place in a very privileged club as one of the few beings that Xander would enjoy killing with his bare hands. That had, of course, been inevitable given what he'd been told, but by the time he'd had to confront the Source, while the desire to rid the world of his evil still burned within him, and he still wanted him to pay for killing Anya, he'd no longer had that all-encompassing hatred for him, and that had actually been a good thing in the long run, as it hadn't blinded him from working out how to defeat him.

Then there was Dawn, who had gone from the little sister he'd always wanted to… well, the little sister he'd always wanted. The whole Key thing aside, she hadn't changed at all as far as Xander was concerned, and whether she'd been around fifteen years or fifteen days, he loved her just the same. They'd have to find out a little more about what it meant for her to be the living embodiment of an inter-dimensional key, and whether there would be anyone else gunning for her so they could use the power she held inside for their own needs, but out of all the revelations that had happened recently, this was the easiest to live with. They also had to work out a way to keep her from being kidnapped, by both the good guys and the bad guys, but all in all, it wasn't so bad.

Xander's thoughts then turned to Spike, who Angel had told him was no more, but with the way he'd said it, Xander wasn't as certain of that. Spike had killed his parents, and he'd have to die for that, but Xander wasn't hypocritical enough to get overly worked up about it, as he barely cared for them. They'd never been the most supportive or caring if parents, and that was before they'd turned to alcohol, so he'd never seen them as more then landlords in some time, but whatever else they'd done, they had brought him into the world, so for that he had to thank them, and ensure that the thing that killed them suffered the same fate. If for some unknown reason Spike was still alive, and ever showed his face again, Xander wouldn't waste even a moment to ram a stake into his shrivelled heart, but he wasn't going to make it his mission in life.

That Xander was now one of the most powerful beings on the planet, if not **the **most powerful, didn't really change what he wanted to do, but it did help in implementing it. He'd always thought of ways to make what they did easier, to make the world a safer place, but he'd never actually had the resources to do anything about it. Now that he did, he wanted to put his plans into action, and whether it was with the others or on his own, he was going to do just that.

"You've caused quite a stir upstairs you know, Alexander," a voice said from his right, which caused Xander to turn around.

"I loved you in Star Trek," he replied, and the Elder snorted slightly before he came and sat down beside him.

Xander had known that he was there, but given that this was the spot that the Elders frequented he hadn't been all that surprised by it, and had pretty much ignored the other man's presence. He knew that the Elders wouldn't try anything against him, because they had been too far removed from warfare for far too long to contemplate going up against him, even if there was a reason to, which at the moment there wasn't.

Xander was more than well aware that the voice that spoke to him before he'd been imbued with the purified power of the Source was right; power does corrupt, and absolute power does corrupt absolutely, and he was too smart to believe that it wouldn't happen to him.

"And **that **is why I rarely come down to Earth anymore," the Elder sighed, "especially as his character was more powerful. Listen, Alexander, I'm sure you know that we keep an eye on everything that goes on around our Champions..."

"Not that you do much about what you see," Xander butted in.

"... and we heard about your plans for the future," the Elder went on, ignoring Xander's comment, mainly because he was right. "You do realise that victory has never been the main objective, don't you?"

"Yeah, yeah, must maintain a balance, blah, blah. You do realise that's a load of bull, don't you?" Xander replied. "How many times have they tried to take over or end the world? How many times have we stopped it only by the skin of our teeth? You might be working on a balance, but they're working on winning, and that's why they are."

"I don't know what you mean?" the Elder replied in almost genuine confusion, wanting to hear what the young man thought. "You yourself have delivered a major blow against the enemy."

"I'll try and explain it to you in small words, so that you can understand," Xander told him, deliberately drawing out his words. "The bad guys go out of their way to try and kill us, while we wait for them to try and then hope we can stop them when they do. The bad guys go out of their way to try to end the world, while we wait for them to try and then hope we can stop them when they do. The bad guys are going out of their way to win, while are just trying to stay alive. Do you get it yet, or do I have to draw you a picture?"

The Elder looked at Xander in a mixture of anger and shock, and wasn't sure how to answer. Once again, the young man in front of him had done something that no one had done in a long, long time; actively disagreed with them. It once again made him think about how they acted as a group, that only someone who wasn't afraid of them, and with good reason, would actually tell them when they think they were wrong. The really disturbing thing was that what Xander was saying had more than a little truth to it.

Yes, the Elders had been trying to maintain a balance, just like the Powers That Be, as both groups believed that it was the best way to ensure the survival of everyone. The fatal flaw in that was by trying to ensure the survival of everyone meant ensuring the survival of those that they were fighting against. That wouldn't be so bad if the other side were doing the same, but as Xander had just pointed out, both the Source and the First had been trying to win, and that their defeats thus far had often been more down to luck than judgement.

"Let's say for the moment that you're correct," the Elder began, not willing to voice his own opinions just yet, "what makes you believe that you should be the one in charge of the fight?"

"What the hell are you on about?" Xander asked him honestly. "Just because I'm the one that came up with the idea, doesn't mean to say that I would be the best one to implement it, but given that none of you have never even wanted to try, it's left up to me by default."

"So if we agreed that we should become more pro-active in our approach, you would be happy with us, or the Powers That Be, in charge?"

"Honestly?" Xander asked in reply, and the Elder nodded. "No, I wouldn't be happy," he replied eventually. "In fact, I would go so far as to say that I'd have a big problem with that."

"Why?" the Elder asked, although he had a feeling he knew the answer given the way the young man had acted towards the Elders before.

"I wouldn't follow your orders blindly, and if I thought there was another option to the one you gave me I'd tell you, and I know those are two thing that you, and the Powers That Be, do not like. You don't like to be second guessed and you know it, and the Powers That Be are the same."

"Your military works in a similar way," The Elder pointed out.

"No it doesn't, because those people that make the decisions can be held accountable for them if they're proven to be wrong," Xander corrected. "How many times have you sacrificed one of your Champions without thinking if there had been another way to do it, just because you knew that there would be another one available? In the military, if a General sent their men out on a suicide mission, with the only reasoning behind it that he had more troops available to them if they died so why bother trying to keep them alive, they'd be drummed out of the military, and probably thrown in Levinworth."

Xander sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face in a combination of frustration and exhaustion. "Look," he went on in irritation, regretting his decision to come to the Golden Gate Bridge in the first place, "I have just had a **very **bad week, and the last thing I want to do now is argue with you, or anyone else, about who is better to do what; I'm going to do what I'm going to do, and you can all either join in or get the hell out of the way."

The Elder nodded in agreement, knowing that young Alexander had gone through more in the past week than most do in a lifetime, but knew that it was a discussion that needed to take place at some point. "Alright, I shall leave you alone, but I just want to say this; not all of the Elders are like you believe, nor are all of the Powers That Be, but it will take time and determination to persuade the others that your way is the best, and only, way to go. Take heart in the fact that no matter what you decide, you will not be alone."

With that, the Elder returned to his realm in a shower of lights, leaving Xander alone once more.

"Hey," Buffy said form behind him.

Or maybe not.

"Hey, Buff," Xander greeted in kind, "what can I do you for?"

"I don't know," she told him in amusement, even as her heart rate went up, "but I'm sure we can work something out."

Xander looked at her strangely until he replayed what he said and rolled his eyes, although he did take note that she hadn't taken offence. It was another sign that not only would their friendship get back on track, but the possibility for more was better than ever.

"You know what I mean," Xander said in mock exasperation. "So, what brings you to one of the Wonders of the Modern World, more specifically the top of it."

"When we realised that you weren't in the Manor anymore, we went looking for you," she told him as he walked over and sat down next to him, so close that if either of them moved slightly they'd touch.

"What made you think to look here?" he asked, having chosen the spot because he didn't think any of them would think to look for him there.

"I don't know really; I just had a feeling you'd be here," Buffy replied with a shrug. "So, why did you run off?"

"It wasn't so much running off as taking a breather for a while," Xander told her, although he had to admit that it had gotten a little stifling in the Manor with so many people around. "I spoke to Ben and got him sorted, so to speak, and I then took a stroll and ended up here."

"With everything we've gone through, it would have been a good idea to let us know where you were going, you know," Buffy told him, and remembered the sudden outset of fear she'd felt when they couldn't find him.

She had done her best to keep it hidden, and had kept reminding herself that there was hardly anything on the planet that could give Xander a problem, but not knowing where he was caused an uneasy feeling to settle at the pit of her stomach, and had stayed there, steadily growing in intensity until she'd found him a few minutes ago.

That, above everything else, had told her that her feelings for Xander went above and beyond friendship. Although she had already made that discovery, what she had felt today had cemented it, and while she knew they couldn't just jump into a romantic relationship, she was determined that they would get there, sooner rather than later.

"I'm sorry," Xander told her sincerely, and he berated himself for not leaving a note or something.

"Don't worry about it, it's not as though you have to tell us where you're going," she told him, knowing that while they had begun to reconcile their differences, the same couldn't be said with Giles or Willow, although she was sure that the past few days would help in that regard, if Xander allowed it to of course. "Anyway, as you probably worked out, we all talked some more about what you said, about taking the fight to the bad guys."

"And?" he asked before he could stop himself.

Xander wouldn't force them to do anything, they'd all had that done to them enough already, but he had to admit that he was curious about what their decision was, if there had been any decisions made at all.

"Well, the sisters are pretty stubborn..."

"A female trait, I've noted," Xander said cutting in, and instinctively dodged the slap Buffy sent his way.

"... but they realised that you were right, and that, as they didn't have much of a choice, they'd rather do whatever they could to get it over with once and fro all than to continue like they have been the last three years," Buffy continued, vowing to herself that she wouldn't miss a second time if he interrupted her.

"What about Leo and Cole?"

"They want things over with as much as anyone, so they agreed almost straight away," she told him. "Of course, Leo is worried about what the Elders might do to him if they don't like it."

"Leo won't have to worry about the Elders," Xander assured her, and would later assure the Whitelighter in question. "I'll deal with them if necessary."

"What do you men by deal with them?" Buffy asked, worried that he might get himself into trouble.

"Nothing violent, I assure you; whether I like them or not, they're still seen by the Big Boss as the good guys, so I would only ever do anything to them if they did something first," Xander explained, and looked up for a moment as he knew they would be listening, and hoped that they received the message loud and clear. "I'd simply explain to them that it would be in their best interest to allow Leo to do what he has been entrusted to do; look after the Charmed Ones."

"Uh huh," Buffy said doubtfully, although she did take him at his word.

"So, what about the rest of you?" Xander asked.

"Well, I'm in," she told him immediately, wanting to make sure he knew where she stood, "and so are the rest, although Wesley did mention something that didn't exactly get a positive response," Buffy went on, and couldn't hide that she was among them.

"Ah, Faith," Xander surmised, although he was surprised that Wesley would have brought it up, given the way she'd treated him before going to jail. "Well, whether you like it or not, she is the Slayer," he said carefully.

"So am I," Buffy retorted.

"Um, actually, you're not, Buffy, and haven't been for a few years," he told her tentatively, and braced himself for the response he knew he was going to get.

"**What**!" she roared, and jumped to her feet. "Of **course**I am!"

"You have the abilities of a Slayer, no one can deny that," Xander went on quickly, not worried for himself but never very happy to be the focus of a lady's ire, "but the **title**of Slayer was passed on when you died in the Master's lair. You know yourself that when one Slayer dies, another is Called, and then from then on **they**are the Slayer."

"Then why can I still do everything I could before?" Buffy asked, having taken Xander's explanation as the truth, as she knew he wouldn't lie about something like that. She also had to bite back a small smile as she had noticed his apprehension, and was happy that despite everything that had happened, Xander hadn't really changed all that much.

"Maybe because no one ever bothered to try and resuscitate a Slayer before," he said in reply. "Don't forget, Buff, that before you, most Slayers worked alone, not including their Watcher, and given that they would rarely go out with them on patrol, if a Slayer were to be killed, there was no one there to try and save them."

"So, what, if I die again, there won't be another Slayer Called?" she asked.

"No," Xander replied simply, "and there wouldn't be until Faith died, and given that she's in prison, and that there was no way any of the other inmates had any chance of bumping her off, it could be decades before another Slayer would be Called. That is, unless the Council try something," he added, his tone darkening, "and I have to tell you that I would be... upset if they killed her just to get another Slayer to use."

"So would I," Buffy told him. At Xander's look of shock, she went on. "Oh, don't get me wrong, I still hate Faith, probably always will, but I don't want to see her dead. In fact, I don't want to see her in any way, shape, or form, hence my less than subtle response to Wesley's suggestion."

"Okay, I'm going to say something now that I know you won't like," Xander began, and by the look on Buffy's face she was instantly aware of what he meant, "but I can't see any other way to put it. You know as well as I do that Faith wouldn't be the first person we've given another chance to."

"You're right, I **don't** like it," she replied, carefully modulating her voice, "but I also can't deny it," she added, and received another look of shock from Xander.

What Buffy had just said was wrong; she could deny it, and she could deny it strongly, but she knew that she would only sound like a hypocrite if she did. No one in their group, whether they be from Sunnydale, Los Angeles or San Francisco, have led perfect lives, and they had all been given second chances, so to deny Faith the same would not only be a double standard, it would also be wrong.

The problem Buffy had was that the things Faith had done that she couldn't forgive her for, at least not yet, were things she took as personal violations; shooting Angel with the poisoned arrow, and sleeping with Riley when they'd switched bodies. Buffy knew that it said a lot about herself that she didn't consider it as hard to forgive Faith for the two men she had killed, and didn't much like what it told her.

It was for that reason that she wasn't sticking her ground on the issue, as she knew to do so would only break the tentative bonds made between herself and Xander, and there was no way that Faith was worth that.

"I know you don't like it, Buffy, but I do think that Faith has changed, at least in some ways," Xander told her.

"How would you know, you haven't seen her any more than the rest of us," Buffy pointed out, not unfairly.

"True, but it was something that the Elders pointed out to me that got me thinking," Xander said. "Faith is in prison, and has been for the past year or so, right?"

"Yeah, what's your point?" Buffy asked.

"If you were the one in prison, and you didn't want to be there, could you escape?" he asked in reply.

It didn't take long for Buffy to answer. "Yes; I doubt there's a prison I couldn't escape..." Buffy trailed off as she got what Xander was trying to say. "Faith could get out any time she liked, just like I could, but she hasn't. So, she's either staying in there because she's afraid of what might happen if she did a runner, or she's staying there because she actually wants to pay for the crimes she committed."

"I have to say it's the latter, Buffy; if she hadn't wanted to take responsibility for what she did, Faith could have just bolted before going to the cops," Xander said. "I'm not saying that we should spring her straight away, even if it were as simple as that," he went on, "but it would be a good idea to get a better idea of how she is doing in there, and at the very least ensure that she doesn't meet with an 'accident' because of the Council, or some other group. Then, of course, there's the small matter of whether she would actually want to work with us, given that she would have to know that she wouldn't receive a warm welcome."

"Yeah," Buffy replied softly. "So, you ready to go back?" she asked more brightly, happy to change topics.

"Actually, no, not yet," Xander replied as he looked out at the city skyline, "I thought it might be nice to watch the sunrise." Xander looked over at Buffy, who had now sat back down, and then returned his gaze ahead. "Feel like watching it with me?" he asked.

"I'd love to," Buffy replied sincerely, and moved a little closer to Xander before joining him in watching for the sun to come up.


	32. Epilogue

Authors Notes: I had several more chapters written for this, but I looked back on them recently and found myself hating them. Instead, I've decided to end this one here with the hope of writing a sequel.

_**Epilogue**_

_Unknown Location._

Whistler knew that being a balance demon meant that there would times when he had to do things for the bad guys on occasion; that was the nature of balance after all, showing no favourites. While he didn't like it when he did so, there was little that he could do to change it, but never before had Whistler wanted to be able to refuse a job more than the one he was on at the moment.

The problem came from recent events, specifically the defeat of two major players for the bad guys. The fact that their defeats came within days of each other, and that they were defeated by the same group, and one man in particular, meant that the balance of power had shifted heavily in the good guys favour. As far as Whistler was concerned that was a good thing, but his bosses most certainly felt differently, which led to his latest mission.

Whistler had to wonder if the Big Guy upstairs actually knew what the Powers That Be were getting him to do, because he couldn't believe that He would go for it if He did, but ultimately it wasn't for him to worry about; he had about as much control over what he did and didn't as a toothbrush. Right now, he'd rather be a toothbrush, because at least then he'd be removing the nasty taste from other people's mouths, instead of leaving one in his own.

He walked into the rundown hayloft he'd been sent to, and barely got six feet inside when a knife was pressed against his neck. Normally it wouldn't worry him, as he was made of sterner stuff than most, but the person holding the knife had major power behind them.

"While I might not walk the path of the righteous any longer," the man said, "it does not mean that I want to confer with things like you."

"I know," Whistler replied carefully, painfully aware of the razor sharp edge resting against his jugular, "believe me I know, but I'm here on behalf of the Powers That Be to offer your boss a deal."

"Let him go, Caleb," another voice said from the far side of the loft, hidden in the gloom.

They stepped forward and Whistler was momentarily shocked to see Buffy Summers standing before him in a damp white dress, before he remembered who it was he'd actually come to see. After a moment's hesitation, Caleb did as he was told and removed the blade from Whistler's neck and stepped back, and Whistler breathed a sigh of relief.

"So, Whistler, what do your… employers want to offer me that I cannot get on my own?" The First asked, changing its form from Buffy to a male Whistler didn't recognise but felt that he should.

"A corporeal body," Whistler replied, wanting to get this over and done with as soon as possible. "With The Source and Glory gone, the balance has shifted too much for their liking, and they want to provide you with the means to level the playing field."

"I lost my physical being to Barbus, and I cannot see him being willing to give it back, especially now" The First pointed out. "Barbus has his own designs of grandeur, and knows that there is little or no chance of them coming to fruition if he were to return my ability to fully enter this realm to me."

"I never said your body, I said a body," Whistler corrected, before pointing to Caleb. "His, in fact. Too many people will notice if they were to give you a new body, and what they propose can only happen if the body in question is given freely, something they doubt anyone else would do."

"What makes them think I will say yes?" Caleb asked. "I quite like having a body, and there are so many more dirty, wanton women in the world for me to cleanse."

"They already know how much you enjoy the power you get when The First merges with you, and the feeling the merger provides," Whistler told him, not bothering to hide the shudder the image produced. "Anyway, it would be more like a timeshare deal than The First actually taking over, given that people would also take notice if your soul ended up in Lucy's domain while your body kept walking and talking here on Earth."

"I'm not very good at sharing anything," The First pointed out. "But to be able to touch again, I might be persuaded."

"I'm not here to persuade you, I'm here to make you the offer; whether you take the offer is up to you. If you don't take up the offer, you'll be stuck as nothing more than a jumped up poltergeist for all eternity," Whistler replied with a shrug, and made no effort to hide how pleased he would be by that. While he had no choice but to carry out the Powers orders, that didn't mean he had to do it with a smile on his face. "The One Who Sees has put paid to your plans to further weaken the Slayer line without even trying, and now that he has power out the wazoo your boy here is no match against him no matter how many times he comes to you for a fix. This offer is pretty much your only option, unless you like falling over every time you go to lean up against a wall."

"I have an idea I know what the answer is but I have to ask anyway; what do the Powers That Be get out of this?" The First asked.

"Balance," Whistler replied with a grimace, which only intensified when The First began to laugh uproariously.

"Oh, you can't help but love the dumb ones, can you?" The First said after getting the laughter under control. "They do so enjoy making my job that much easier." The First turned to Caleb, who had stayed suspiciously silent through most of the conversation. "Would it be so bad to share your body with me?" he asked, morphing once again into Buffy.

Caleb looked at The First for several long moments before he smiled. "No, not at all. You once told me I would be your right hand; this way I will be that and so much more."

"So you'll do it?" Whistler asked the pair, silently hoping the answer was no, but knowing that he was hoping in vain.

They didn't even have to say the words; the moment they both agreed mentally the process began. The First morphed out of Buffy's form and into a black mist that then moved towards, and inside, Caleb. Unlike other times when this occurred, a blinding flash of light enveloped the former man of the cloth, and in an instant Whistler could feel that the bonding had finished.

Whistler could more than feel it a moment later when he found their hands around his throat, and a moment later felt nothing at all as they ripped his head from his shoulders.

"Free at last, free at last," The First/Caleb said as they wiped Whistlers blood off their hands onto their shirt, and an ironic smile appeared on their face, "praise the Lord, I'm free at last."

The End


End file.
